Julian Erosa Will Retire After Halloween Fight With JeongYeong Lee

Julian Erosa has decided that his fight with JeongYeong Lee on Halloween night at UFC Vegas 123 will be the last bout of his mixed martial arts career.

The 37-year-old featherweight revealed the plan in an interview with James Lynch of Fanatics View. He heads into the fight on a two-fight losing streak, and he took a lot of damage in both of those defeats.

Erosa said he had not made a big deal of the decision, but explained why he wanted the date set before the fight rather than after it.

"I just wanted to give myself one more opportunity to try to get my hand raised, but I wanted to make it a date of when I was going to be done, because I think the problem is win, lose or draw, I'm going to want to fight again."

A win, in his view, would make walking away even harder, because he would ask himself why he should stop while things were going well.

A loss would leave him wanting redemption. "So, I have to make the conscious decision beforehand that this is going to be my last fight, and be happy with that – be OK with that," Erosa said.

Family comes first

Becoming a father reshuffled what matters to him most.

"Fighting used to be my life, and now I have other things that are on top of that," Erosa said. "If I can get out of fighting with my health intact, that's what I want."

Three runs in the UFC

Erosa first appeared on Season 22 of "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2015 and won his UFC debut at the TUF 22 Finale that December. He then lost at UFC 196, the McGregor vs. Diaz card in March 2016, and was released.

A head kick knockout of Jamall Emmers on Dana White's Contender Series in 2018 earned him a second contract, but three straight losses got him cut again. The promotion brought him back in 2020, and he has stayed on the roster ever since, picking up three post-fight bonuses.

He takes a 31-14 professional record, 9-9 in the UFC, into his final fight.

Source: Fanatics View