Barcelos vows to finish unbeaten Rosas Jr. at UFC Vegas 121: 'He's never fought someone like me'

Raoni Barcelos has promised to hand Raul Rosas Jr. his first career finish when the two meet in the UFC Vegas 121 main event on 26 September at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, with the Brazilian veteran insisting the unbeaten prospect has never shared the octagon with anyone quite like him.

Rosas Jr. enters the fight having won six of seven UFC bouts, his only setback a decision loss to Christian Rodriguez in just his second octagon appearance at 18 years old. Since then the Mexican prospect has beaten more seasoned opponents, including Rob Font and Vince Morales, without ever being stopped. Barcelos, however, is unconvinced that Rosas Jr. has been truly tested.

“I believe all the opponents he’s faced so far, Rob Font and others, have been extremely tough athletes, without taking anything away from anyone,” Barcelos told MMA Fighting. “But I think he still hasn’t faced a guy who could really complicate his game. He’s never faced a guy with good wrestling; he’s never faced a guy with good jiu-jitsu, someone who can disrupt his game. That someone is me. He’s never fought someone like me.”

Barcelos was already a professional MMA fighter before Rosas Jr. had celebrated his eighth birthday, having claimed the Shooto Brazil and RFA belts before reaching the UFC. Now 39 and riding a five-fight winning streak that includes victories over Cody Garbrandt and Payton Talbott, he expects Rosas Jr. to seek grappling exchanges — and says that suits him perfectly.

“We have a very good no-gi jiu-jitsu team. I’m not going to be uncomfortable,” Barcelos said. “If the fight goes in that direction, we have all the time; we have five rounds to get tangled up and end up working our jiu-jitsu in the best way possible. We’re going in there to finish this fight before 25 minutes.”

Adding to the occasion, Barcelos will have former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira in his corner for the first time in nearly six years. Teixeira, who Barcelos credits with persuading him to transition from jiu-jitsu and wrestling to MMA in Brazil in the early 2010s, joined him for three weeks of training in Danbury before the main camp began in Rio de Janeiro.

“Glover is a guy who inspires me a lot,” Barcelos said. “He always said that age is just a number, that it’s in our heads, and he proved to everyone that it’s possible to make it there. I consider Glover my godfather in MMA.”

Barcelos will be joined in the corner by his father and mentor Laerte Barcelos and coaches Davi Ramos and Andre Felipe as he looks to derail one of the UFC’s most hyped young prospects on the biggest stage of his own career.