Raul Rosas Jr. quickly realized that Raoni Barcelos was in serious trouble at UFC Vegas 121. The Mexican faced the Brazilian in the main event and had his arm raised after the veteran suffered a sudden illness and passed out during the fifth round. According to the prospect, the outcome may have been caused by the accumulated physical exhaustion throughout the fight.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Raul Rosas Jr. reported that he returned for the fifth round maintaining the pace and noticed that Raoni's body seemed to no longer respond in the same way. According to the Mexican, the Brazilian showed clear signs of exhaustion when he was held during the fight.
“On Thursday, I got back into the rhythm, and I think his body may have simply shut down from exhaustion… When I held him, he seemed so weak. His body seemed finished,” said Raul Rosas Jr.
Raul also recounted that, upon later realizing that Raoni had lost consciousness, he began to consider that the Brazilian's weak state might be related to the fainting spell he had suffered at that moment.
"Now that I see he was unconscious, I think, wow, maybe that's why he looked so weak, because he was already passed out," the Mexican concluded.
Raul Rosas Jr. reveals his despair after Raoni Barcelos' sudden illness.
Raoni Barcelos lost to Raul Rosas Jr. in the UFC. Photo: Getty Images/Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Raul Rosas Jr. revealed that, for a few moments, he feared that Raoni Barcelos had died. The Mexican was relieved to realize that the Brazilian was breathing, but remained worried about the situation and said a prayer, hoping that the veteran would regain consciousness and be able to return to his family.
“For a second, I didn’t know if he had died, to be honest. Then I saw him breathing, so I thought, ‘OK, he didn’t die.’ That made me a little more relieved, but I was still sitting there praying. I said a quick prayer and hoped that he would wake up and come back to his family,” said Raul Rosas Jr.
Johnny Walker opens up about his heavyweight debut at UFC 332.
Comments