Raul Rosas Jr vs Christian Rodriguez UFC 287 Miami Fight Video Full HD Free Stream Replay Part A

Raul Rosas Jr., a wunderkind for the UFC, makes his second trip to the octagon of the sport on Saturday, July 287. By winning a second UFC championship at the age of 18, he hopes to take one step closer to realizing his goal of becoming the organization's's youngest-ever champion.

He's's up against Christian Rodriguez, a Roufusport product with an 1-1 UFC record, in the competition.

Will Rosas find it to be too soon? Or is Rodriguez merely a stepping stone in the process?

Let's's analyze Rosas vs. Rodriguez from UFC 287.

Rosas made headlines last year when he made his Contender Series debut at the age of 17, defeating future TUF rival Mando Gutierrez with a resounding victory. Rosas still displayed talent that was well beyond his years, even though it was a little gimmicky to feature him when he was still 17 and weeks away from turning 18 years old.

Rosas used his elite-level grappling to win both his UFC debut and his Contender Series match. Both fights are taken into account in his statistics in the Tale of the Tape section above.

Rosas has developed his game specifically for MMA, in contrast to some grapplers who enter the sport as pure wrestlers or jiu-jitsu players. He is strong against the fence as well as at "open- mat" takedowns.

He also holds position well while patiently setting up chokes and has excellent back-takes.

But it's's clear he got his start in grappling matches because his strikes on the ground don't seem to cause much damage. He'll'll need to get better at that aspect of his game as he moves up to more difficult competition.

Rosas actually began his martial arts training as a boxer, though he hasn't yet demonstrated much standup striking in the UFC. I would anticipate him to be making quick progress in that area given his age and athletic prowess. Rodriguez should at the very least be kept on the back foot during striking exchanges by the takedown threat he poses.

To have much of a chance, Rodriguez probably needs to keep this one standing. He's's a skilled grappler himself, having successfully choked an anaconda in his most recent match, but he also feels somewhat unsteady on the ground.

He was defeated twice, and Jonathan Pearce repeatedly defeated him in his UFC debut.

Rodriguez has good scrambling skills and can stand up again, but he has a bad habit of showing his back when doing so. He has so far gotten away with it, but Rosas is a much better submission wrestler than his previous rivals.

Rodriguez does, however, have strong striking, occasionally combining flashy kicks or spinning attacks with aggressive boxing. However, he'll'll probably want to stay away from the latter because Rosas would use that as an excuse to attack him or force a takedown.