Athletes
Julian Erosa Ready To Bring It Again
Featherweight Returns vs Fernando Padilla Saturday With Another Thrilling Finish On His Mind
There are no guarantees in the fight business, but as Julian Erosa makes the walk to the Octagon for the 13th time this Saturday, can we assume that “Juicy J” has a little job security in the big show?
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“You always like to assume that your job is secure, but I've been in this game for too long to fool myself, especially with the UFC,” said Erosa. “I've been cut and rehired by the UFC more than anybody that I know. And so I don't want to fool myself into thinking that my job is secure in any sense of the word. But I feel like if you perform and the UFC knows that, then that's good, even if go out there and lose a fight. But if you went out there and lost a fight, but for whatever reason you made a mistake or whatever, but you performed good and you brought the fight, you brought a show, the UFC appreciates that kind of thing.”
Julian Erosa Delivers a Flying Knee To End It | UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs Lewis
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Julian Erosa Delivers a Flying Knee To End It | UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs Lewis
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Since June of 2020, there’s been no on again / off again for the 33-year-old, and through seven fights, he’s gone 5-2 with three finishes and two post-fight Performance bonuses. And yeah, the UFC and fight fans appreciate what he brings.
Preview Saturday's Entire Fight Card
“Win, lose or draw, people are going to tune into my fight because they know that I bring it and they know it's going to be a fun fight to watch,” Erosa said. “And so I think that, in that sense, I'm pretty secure with my job, but we're talking about the UFC here. One loss can lead to two losses, can lead to three losses can lead to not having a job anymore. And some guys are getting luckier than others. And I would definitely say that I've been one of those guys because after getting cut from the UFC the first time, most people don't get re-signed. And I was able to do that and then I got signed a second time and then it's unheard of for a person to get a third stint in the UFC.”
But here he is. So what’s next? Yes, Erosa is coming off a stoppage loss to Alex Caceres last December, but he won three straight leading up to that, and if he can get back in the win column against the debuting Padilla this weekend, is there a plan to start making moves at 145 pounds, or is it just about putting on good fights?
“I'm kind of more towards the latter one,” he said. “I think, at this point in my career, I feel like I just want to go out there and perform against tough competition. I don't want to just go out there and fight nobodies and not test myself because why I got into this sport in the first place was the competition of it and to test myself and get better. And so, I don't necessarily think that I'll be fighting for a UFC title, but that doesn't mean I just want to just fight mediocre dudes. I still want to test myself. When I fought (Hakeem) Dawodu, he was a guy that was kind of hovering around the Top 15. I was like, man, I did really well against him. Maybe I could keep doing well against other top competition. And so, I think it's kind of a roll of the dice or it's kind of a double-edged sword. I want to fight tough competition but, at the same time, I don't want to put too much pressure on myself to have to get to the Top 15, the Top 10 or five or fight for the title. But if they called me and asked me if I’d fight for the title, I'd probably do it for free just to do it.”
Main Event Preview | UFC Fight Night: Song vs Simon
Erosa laughs, a real fighter who could end up with the greatest story ever. All he needs is the dice to roll his way.
UFC Fight Night: Song vs Simon took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas on April 29, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
