Ricky Turcios reportedly told Raul Rosas Jr. after their fight at UFC on ESPN 57 on Saturday that he has a staph infection.
Rosas Jr. ended his rivalry with Turcios with a second-round submission victory at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The 19-year-old fended off a rear-naked choke attempt in the first round, then applied one himself in the next, forcing the tap.
Rosas Jr. then revealed the exchange he had with Turcios in the Octagon after his win. The rivalry between the two began when they were first booked together at UFC Mexico City in February of this year. Despite his best efforts, Rosas Jr. was unable to recover from an illness and withdrew from the bout shortly before it began. Turcios was not happy with Rosas Jr.’s withdrawal and slammed his opponent for disrespecting “Bushido.”
Rosas Jr. and Turcios brought up the topic again after Saturday’s UFC Louisville bout, which resulted in Turcios telling Rosas Jr. that he had a staph infection prior to the bout. Rosas Jr. believes Turcios was foolish to play if he did indeed have a staph infection and hopes the 31-year-old doesn’t use that as an excuse for his loss. “El Niño Problema” went on to point out that Turcios didn’t fight at UFC Mexico City to avoid a situation like this.
“I said, ‘You insulted me first… you insulted me by saying I retreated and all that,’ and he said, ‘No, you insulted me first by breaking the code of bushido,'” Rosas Jr. said during the post-fight media grab. “And I said, ‘Hey, that’s something I can’t control, I was sick.’
“He said he was sick too. He said this week he had a staph infection in his knee or whatever. But I hope he doesn’t use that as an excuse. That’s why I didn’t play in Mexico City. If I had played in Mexico City, I wouldn’t have said I was sick. If we had lost in Mexico City, I would have called it a day. So if he was really sick and had a staph infection and played, I think it was just a stupid decision.”
