Julian Erosa is not quite sold his upcoming opponent’s current run, despite the results being there.
Erosa (29-11 MMA, 7-7 UFC) takes on Christian Rodriguez in a featherweight bout at a UFC on ESPN 59, which takes place July 13 in Denver (ESPN, ESPN+). Rodriguez (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is on a four-fight winning streak entering the event, but Erosa thinks some of those wins should at least put into question.
Erosa, 34, saw Rodriguez, 26, lose against Isaac Dulgarian back in March, and thinks he was wrongfully awarded the win by the judges.
“His last fight against Dulgarian, I don’t know how he won that fight,” Erosa told MMA Junkie Radio. “I think Dulgarian might’ve 10-8 rounded him in the first round. In the second round, for sure Dulgarian won – doing homework on his fights – but at the very least, it should’ve been a draw because the third was all ‘C-Rod.’
“So that was a bit iffy of a decision. I don’t know how he won that decision, but there goes the saying that you never want to leave it up to the judges – especially some of these guys. I think it’s Dave Tirelli. Man, that guy just makes such bad decisions.”
That split decision win against Dulgarian is not the only thing Erosa puts into question. He also thinks Rodriguez had an unfair advantage in two of his recent fights, where he missed weight and went on to defeat his opponent.
“Two of his big wins in the UFC for bantamweight he missed weight, so there’s an asterisk by those fights,” Erosa said. “Even the Contender (Series) fight, he missed weight and that’s why they didn’t sign him. So even though he’s got a decent win and decent streak in the UFC, two of those bantamweight fights he missed weight and at bantamweight, when you’re missing by four or five pounds – which is what he did – that’s a huge advantage.
“Four or five pounds the day of weigh-ins can equal up to 10 pounds the next day, which is a different weight class. I think in transitioning to featherweight, I don’t know if he did it on his own accord or if the UFC was like, ‘Hey, man. This is too many times. You’re going to have to move to featherweight.’ It will be interesting to see how it plays out in that sense. I’m not trying to discredit what he’s done so far, but if you’re a fighter, you know at least two pounds missed the day of weigh-ins can equate to three or four times the day of the fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 59.
