Julian Erosa isn't too impressed with his next opponent's current performance, despite the results.
Erosa (29-11 MMA, 7-7 UFC) will face Christian Rodriguez in a featherweight bout at UFC on ESPN 59 (ESPN, ESPN+) in Denver on July 13. Rodriguez (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is on a four-fight winning streak coming into the event, but Erosa believes some of those wins should at least be called into question.
Erosa, 34, watched Rodriguez, 26, lose to Isaac Dalgarian in March and believes the judges unfairly declared him the winner.
“His last fight, against Dalgaryan, I don't know how he won,” Erosa told MMA Junkie Radio. “Dalgaryan might have beaten him 10-8 in the first round. Dalgaryan definitely won the second round. If you study his fights, it should have been at least a draw. The third round was all 'C-Rod.'”
“So it was a bit of a close call. I don't know how he won, but the saying goes you never leave it to the judges, especially these guys. I think it was Dave Tirelli. He makes really bad calls.”
It's not just the split decision win over Dargaryan that Elosa is questioning — he also believes Rodriguez had an unfair advantage in his last two fights, after he beat opponents outside the weight limit.
“Two of my big wins at UFC bantamweight I was underweight so there's an asterisk next to those fights,” Erosa said. “I was also underweight for my Contender (series) fight and that's why I didn't sign. Even though I've had some pretty impressive wins and good results at UFC, I was underweight for two of my bantamweight fights and I was four or five pounds underweight at bantamweight, so that's a big advantage.”
“Four or five pounds on the day of the weigh-in equates to up to 10 pounds the next day. It's a different weight class. As for the move to featherweight, I don't know if he did it of his own volition or if the UFC said, 'Hey, this is too much. You have to move to featherweight.' In that sense, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. I'm not going to take away from what he's done so far, but any fighter knows that failing to lose at least two pounds on the day of the weigh-in can add up to three or four times that on fight day.”
For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC on ESPN 59 event hub.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie
