Injuries and tough assignments have kept Rosa from ever really establishing a rhythm and flow inside the Octagon, but after getting back into the win column in his second appearance of 2020, the 34-year-old featherweight staple looks to start a run this weekend when he takes on Darrick Minner.
An unbeaten standout with a ton of buzz during his days on the regional circuit, the Peabody, Massachusetts native made a splash in his UFC debut, venturing to Stockholm, Sweden on short notice to go three-hard rounds against Dennis Siver, kicking off a career in the Octagon that would see him toggle between solid victories and losses to ultra-talented fighters.
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Finally healthy and able to compete regularly, Rosa ran into a buzzsaw last May, landing on the wrong side of the grappling exchanges against Bryce Mitchell at UFC 249, but rebounded with a gritty, hard-fought split decision victory over former LFA champ Kevin Aguilar to bring his record level at 4-4 in the UFC.
After dropping his promotional debut in February, Minner scored the first victory of his UFC career in September, authoring one of the biggest upsets of the year by choking out highly touted Canadian prospect TJ Laramie in less than a minute.
Rosa has always been recognized as a tough out in the featherweight ranks and the type of scrappy competitor upstarts needed to beat in order to move forward in the division, which is why he’s shared the cage with ranked fighters like Mitchell, Shane Burgos, and Yair Rodriguez when they were on their way up, but now it’s his turn to try to make a run towards the top of the division.
Healthy, hungry, and focused on fulfilling the promise he showed during the nascent stages of his career, a second straight victory for Rosa on Saturday night would further solidify his standing as a dangerous threat just outside the Top 15 and create an opportunity for a step up in competition next time out that could potentially carry him into the rankings.
