Long-time UFC featherweight fighter Julian Erosa revealed that his next fight inside the Octagon will be his retirement bout from MMA.
Erosa has been in the UFC since 2015, with three separate stints in the world’s leading MMA promotion. But now, at age 37 and having lost his last two fights where he took a lot of damage, he is content with hanging up his gloves.
Julian Erosa Reveals UFC Retirement Date
Speaking to James Lynch of Fanatics View, Erosa revealed that he will retire after the fight with JeongYeong Lee on Halloween night at UFC Vegas 123: Moicano vs. Nolan.
“I haven’t really made it a big deal, but this will be my last fight… I just wanted to give myself one more opportunity to try to get my hand raised, but I wanted to make it a date of when I was going to be done, because I think the problem is win, lose or draw, I’m going to want to fight again. So, I have to make a date, because if I win the fight, all I want to do after I win a fight is do it again, because it’s like the best feeling, obviously, for us fighters is to win a fight in the UFC,” Erosa said (via MMAjunkie.com).
“So, I think it’s actually harder if I win my fight for me to want to hang it up because, ‘Why am I going to hang it up? I’m doing good. Let’s keep this going.’ But if I lose, all I’m going to want is redemption. So, win, lose or draw, I think it’s just going to be something I’m going to want to do again anyway. So, I have to make the conscious decision beforehand that this is going to be my last fight, and be happy with that – be OK with that.”
Julian Erosa UFC Career
Erosa was originally on Season 22 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2015, and he made his UFC debut at the TUF 22 Finale in December 2015. He won that night, but lost his next bout at UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz in March 2016, and was released.
Then, in 2018, he went on Dana White’s Contender Series and earned another UFC contract with a head kick KO over Jamall Emmers. But after losing three straight fights, he was cut again.
Then, in 2020, Erosa was brought back to the UFC, and he has stuck around ever since then, earning three post-fight bonuses.
Overall, Erosa has a 31-14 MMA record and is 9-9 in the UFC.
While his exciting fighting style might very well buy him some more time inside the UFC, he said that spending time with his family is the priority right now, which is why he is retiring.
“The order of things that are important in my life has switched a little bit after having my son. Fighting used to be my life, and now I have other things that are on top of that. So, I got to look out for those things, and you know, if I can get out of fighting with my health intact, that’s what I want,” Erosa said.
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