"I just wanna go for the belt" - 17-year-old UFC signee Raul Rosas Jr. already has eyes set on bantamweight gold

UFC newcomer Raul Rosas Jr. is already keen on winning bantamweight gold. Having recently earned his contract with a win over Mando Gutierrez during Dana White's Contender Series (DWCS) season 6, the 17-year-old prospect is willing to fight anyone necessary to win a UFC title.

But Rosas Jr. doesn't have a specific opponent in mind, as he admittedly doesn't know many unranked fighters. However, he is eager to make his way to the top 15 as he is eyeing a lot of fights there. 'El Nino Problema' recently told Full Send MMA:

"Not really any particular opponent, because I don't really know any fighters below the top 15. But I'll fight anybody because I'm really interested to enter the top 15. Because there's a lot of names that I would like to fight. But specifically nobody that I really wanna fight. I just wanna go for the belt so I'll fight whoever has that belt and whoever I have to get through to get to that belt."

Watch Raul Rosas Jr.'s comments at the 2:20 mark of the video below:

Rosas Jr. also claims to be eager to fight as soon as possible. The 17-year-old believes he will make his UFC debut by the end of this year or early next year.

---

Raul Rosas Jr. wants to repay his family for their sacrifices

Raul Rosas Jr.'s parents Raul Rosas and Oyuki Rios originally came to the U.S. from Iztapalapa, a dangerous outlying suburb of Mexico City. Raul Sr. works as a boxing coach while Oyuki looks after Rosas Jr. and his brother Jessie, who is also a professional fighter.

At only 17 years of age 'El Nino Problema' has had a long combat sports career. While he has always had a knack for fighting, Rosas Jr.'s development appears to have stagnated at one point in Clovis, New Mexico.

It was then that his parents made a much-needed move to Santa Rosa, California that also came with a lot of sacrifices. The UFC bantamweight told MMA Junkie in Spanish:

“At Clovis, we reached a point where we couldn’t grow in level [in MMA], so we moved to Santa Rosa, California. We left everything – family, everything. And we moved into a tiny apartment. We shared a living room between like five people, and there was a lot of us in the apartment. It was like 12 people. But thanks to my parents and their sacrifice, we’re here. And yeah, we get tired of eating arroz and frijoles, and I told them jokingly, ‘Only rib-eye from now on.’"

Watch Raul Rosas Jr.'s interview with MMA Junkie below: