Charles Rosa kept his hometown crowd happy with a first-round submission against Manny Bermudez at UFC Boston to close out the prelims.
It’s been a while since Charles Rosa has stepped in the Octagon. His last UFC appearance came all the way back in April 2017, losing to Shane Burgos by knockout. A neck injury is the cause of the long absence of the Boston native. He is 2-3 in the Octagon coming into UFC Boston.
Manny Bermudez missed weight for his featherweight debut after missing weight in his last two bantamweight contests. He came into UFC Boston at 148 pounds for his third straight miss. Bermudez is a submission specialist inside the cage, forcing his first three opponents in the Octagon to tap before Casey Kenney handed him his first career loss in his 15th fight. Of Bermudez’s 14 career wins, 11 are by submissions.
Charles Rosa ate a kick to the body early on and then Bermudez pushed him against the cage and took him down. Rosa threw his legs up for some submissions, but was eating plenty of punches from a compromised position. Rosa stayed strong and kept his legs up, eventually slipping them through for an armbar. It wasn’t very clear, but Bermudez verbally tapped to the submission and the ref pulled them apart. A huge first-round victory for “Boston Strong.”
He submits the submission specialist!@CharlesRosaMMA welcome back to the Octagon! Wow! #UFCBoston pic.twitter.com/xtxWU6vD5I
— UFC (@ufc) October 19, 2019
Rosa was obviously overjoyed to win in front of his home crowd after over two years on the shelf. He said the armbar is his best move, and certainly proved that at UFC Boston.
Charles Rosa def. Manny Bermudez by Submission (Armbar) in Round 1 (2:48)
