Charles Rosa was to be heading to Japan this Friday Night, but his fight with Mizuto Hirota to kick off the UFC Fight Night Japan main card when Hirota was pulled from the show.
Rosa trains alongside Cole Miller, who fought Hirota at UFC On Fox 22 and Miller has given the fighter some tips for his canceled bout.
“So I asked Cole, ‘Hey man, you wanna spar? I don’t have a partner.’ He kind of ignored me. He gave me like a smug look and then I asked him again, ‘Was that a no?’ and he was like, ‘Alright, you wanna spar?’ And he gave me my first five rounds of sparring and I went at it with him. I had a bloody nose after and everything, we went at it! And when I found out he was a UFC fighter the following day, a light bulb went off. I said, if that kid was top ten or fifteen in the world at the time, that guy who is the same size as me, then I know I can do this,” Rosa said to Bloody Elbow.
At UFC On Fox 22, it was Hirota earning the decision win over Miller, which was the final fight on Miller’s UFC contract.
Not only was Rosa happy to be fighting Hirota, but the TUF alumni would have been achieving a lifelong dream by competing in Japan, as he said in an interview before the cancelation.
“I’m pretty excited to go fight in Japan, it’s a dream come true,” said Rosa. “I just look at it like an away game,” he continued. “I’m going in there not the favourite. I’m fighting Mizuto Hirota who is a legend over there in Japan. He’s a former DEEP champion, but every time I’ve gone into a different country I’ve had the crowd cheering my name at the end.”
