Raul Rosas Jr. will not get the chance to fight in front of an adoring crowd at UFC Mexico City.
The highly-touted bantamweight prospect suffered an illness that left him unable to compete, and his fight with Ricky Turcios was scrapped just before the two were scheduled to walk to the octagon. The news was announced during the UFC Mexico City broadcast.
While certainly not the best circumstance possible, there is hope that Rosas won’t have to long to compete, as it was also announced that his fight with Turcios has been rescheduled for the UFC Vegas 87 card this Saturday at UFC APEX in Las Vegas. UFC CEO Dana White later confirmed that the fight is expected to take place at a catchweight since Rosas and Turcios already made weight for the Mexico City card before the bout had to be postponed.
On Sunday, however, Turcios disputed that the re-booking was official. In an Instagram Story, Turcios wrote the following:
“Fake news. No fight contract has been signed yet for a new date. Last night Rosas Jr. said no fight literally five minutes before the walk out to fight in the octagon. Rosas Jr. said no to facing me in the octagon in front of his 20,000 Mexican fans in Mexico City. Rosas Jr. disrespected the Bushido code… very unprofessional.”
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Rosas, who talked about his excitement to perform in front of friends and family as the UFC landed in Mexico City for the first time in nearly five years. Now, he’ll ll have to wait at least a week to return to the octagon.
So far in his early UFC career, the now 19-year-old fighter has posted a 2-1 record through three fights, including victories over Jay Perrin and Terrence Mitchell.
See Turcios’ full response to the news below.