In a battle between two submission artists, Charles Rosa is confident that he has the upper hand.
Rosa (13-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) faces fellow featherweight Darrick Minner at an upcoming UFC Fight Night event that takes place in Las Vegas on Feb. 20, where he’s expecting to put his grappling skills to the test. Both men have finished the vast majority of their fights by submission, but one particular statistic stands out.
While Minner (25-11 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has finished all but three of his 25 pro wins via submission, Rosa has never been tapped out. That being said, the Massachusetts-born featherweight is not afraid to tangle with Minner in the grappling exchanges.
“He’s been submitted 11 times,” Rosa told MMA Junkie. “I don’t think I’ve ever fought somebody that’s been submitted that many times, and that’s what I am: I’m a submission specialist. Also, to be clear, too, you talk about all his submission wins he has, I’ve never been submitted. I’ve never been submitted as a professional fighter ever, so I don’t know if they think he’s going to go in there and submit me or what it is.
“He’d have to be the first one to do it out of all the guys that I fought. I fought world-class, top-10 guys, some of the top guys on the planet, and I’ve fought many blackbelts. I train with them every single day, so if he wants to come in there and he wants to get into a grappling exchange, he’s going to be on the losing end of that, that’s a fact.”
Since joining the UFC roster in 2014, Rosa has split his past eight appearances. He is coming off a split-decision win over Kevin Aguilar at UFC on ESPN 10 in June and will look to string consecutive wins for the first time in his UFC career when he faces Minner.
To hear the full interview with Rosa, check out the video below.
UFC’s Charles Rosa: Darrick Minner will be on losing end of grappling exchanges, that’s a fact
