Most fighters say that when they enter a fight, they’re anything but 100%. However, heading into Dana White’s Contender Series, Jacob Rosales had really taken that to the next level. Being young and immature – along with carrying a warrior’s code of needing to fight when he signed on the dotted line – he went into the biggest fight of his life banged up in a wild way.
“Three weeks before, during training and wrestling, I broke my leg,” Rosales revealed. “I couldn’t do too much except kind of hit pads. I could stand on it – not at first – but later I was able to stand on it and do a little bit more.”
While some of the decision to move forward was based on toughness, some of it was due to not wanting to miss an opportunity that had arisen.
“It happened a couple of weeks before [the fight] and it wasn’t broken in half, but it was broke. Like there was a straight fracture all the way down my leg,” he said. “Just immature things that were done because I was younger. I had just figured if the UFC gives you an opportunity, you don’t say no.”
Now a little bit older and a lot of bit smarter, Rosales is starting to really put everything together. He’s being smarter with his training and taking care of his body. He’s back to fighting at featherweight – where he’s belonged all along. Although maturity was partially the catalyst for these changes, there was a much larger reason as well.
“It’s gonna sound cheesey, but I met my wife and [Alexandria Rosales] she’s been such a big help. She fights too and just us together, just having something to fight for now gives you a spark,” Rosales shared. “She’s been the one that helps me withg my diet and we hold each other accountable. I just can’t let her down.”
He’ll look to continue to build on his resume with his newfound focus and self-care at Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat 16 this Saturday. He fights Kevin Boehm in the co-main event with the fight card beginning at 10pm EST on UFC Fight Pass.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 2:20.
