UFC Fight Night: Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos — Full Card, Start Times, and How to Watch

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One week after an action-packed numbered card at UFC 331, the promotion returns to the META Apex for a routine five-round main event between Raul Rosas Jr. and Raoni Barcelos.

Rosas Jr. (12-1) enters on a five-fight winning streak, most recently out-grappling veteran Rob Font at UFC 326 in March. Barcelos (22-5), 18 years his senior, carries a five-fight streak of his own, including a decision win over highly touted prospect Payton Talbott. The winner moves closer to the division’s top 10, while the loser faces questions about where they stand in a crowded bantamweight division.

Raul Rosas Jr.© Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

How to Watch

Date: Sept. 26, 2026

Streaming: For viewers in the U.S., the entire event streams live on Paramount+.

Prelims: 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT

Main Card: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT

Location: Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Full Fight Card

Main Card (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT)

  • Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Raoni Barcelos (Bantamweight)
  • Rodolfo Vieira vs. Robert Bryczek (Middleweight)
  • Montel Jackson vs. Ricky Simon (Bantamweight)
  • Mehemmedeli Osmanli vs. Ilimbek Akylbek (Bantamweight)
  • Melissa Amaya vs. Tina Black (Women’s Strawweight)
  • Brady Hiestand vs. Rinya Nakamura (Bantamweight)

Prelims (5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT)

  • Rodolfo Bellato vs. Christian Edwards (Light Heavyweight)
  • Elves Brener vs. Josiah Harrell (Lightweight)
  • Ricky Simon vs. Montel Jackson (Bantamweight)
  • Ailin Perez vs. Norma Dumont (Women’s Bantamweight)
  • Alatengheili vs. John Castaneda (Bantamweight)
  • Sedriques Dumas vs. Mickey Gall (Middleweight)
  • Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Yazmin Jauregui (Women’s Strawweight)

Main Event

The stylistic clash between Barcelos and Rosas centers on the youth and hunger of Rosas Jr. vs. the experience, craftiness, and toughness of Barcelos. The fight card delivers a contrast in career stages: a 21-year-old chasing history against a 39-year-old refusing to fade.

By walking to the cage for the main event, Rosas Jr. becomes the youngest athlete to ever headline a UFC event, adding to a growing list of youthful accolades as he continues working toward his goal of becoming the youngest champion in UFC history.

Barcelos, meanwhile, built his five-fight streak going the distance and winning clear decisions that showed how tough and dominant he is, winning rounds through volume striking and clinch control in the later stages.

Tale of the Tape

Category

Raul Rosas Jr.

Raoni Barcelos

Pro Record

12W 1L

22W 5L

Age

21

39

Height

5’9″

5’7″

Reach

67″

67″

Stance

Southpaw

Orthodox

Last Fight

UD win vs. Rob Font

SD win vs. Montel Jackson

Raul Rosas Jr.

Rosas Jr.’s UFC stats tell the story of a fighter who wins by neutralizing opponents rather than overwhelming them. He already owns a UFC record with the highest control-time percentage in bantamweight history at 56.9 percent. His UFC profile lists 64 takedown attempts, converting them into a 6.10 takedown average per 15 minutes.

The Font fight in March offered the clearest window into both his ceiling and his current limitations.

The official stats for that fight show Rosas Jr. completed 16 of 18 takedown attempts and controlled the fight for extended stretches, but he landed just 8 significant strikes with zero submission attempts across the 15-minute bout.

The grappling is elite. The finishing instinct, at least in recent fights, has been dormant.

Rosas Jr. has never been finished, and his lone loss came on the scorecards against Christian Rodriguez in April 2023. However, he has also never faced an opponent with Barcelos’ combination of grappling credentials and tactical patience.

Raoni Barcelos

Barcelos is much more capable on the feet than Rosas Jr. is, and his ability to continue competing with much younger athletes is a testament to his durability, toughness, and will to win.

His fight against Montel Jackson in April 2026 illustrated this perfectly. Jackson dropped Barcelos with a high kick and nearly finished him on the mat in the first round.

Barcelos survived, rallied, and nearly submitted Jackson himself before escaping with a split decision. It was the kind of fight that would break younger fighters, and Barcelos treated it as just another problem to solve.

Barcelos is a decorated grappler in his own right. The son of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu coral belt, he grew up in judo and BJJ before adding freestyle wrestling to his toolkit. That background matters against Rosas Jr., as Barcelos has maintained 100 percent takedown defense in his last three fights, and his submission defense has never been cracked in the UFC.

The fight against Payton Talbott offers the most relevant template for Saturday (via UFC Brasil):

Talbott entered that January 2025 bout as one of the division’s most hyped young fighters, the same role Rosas Jr. occupies now. Barcelos beat him by unanimous decision, using his experience to neutralize the hype train.

The betting odds reflect the uncertainty. Early lines installed Rosas Jr. as roughly a -210 favorite, with Barcelos at +177. The gap reflects Rosas Jr.’s momentum and age, not a clear stylistic edge.

Can Rosas Jr. impose his wrestling on a fighter who has spent 14 years learning how to counter exactly that? If he can, he announces himself as a legitimate top-10 bantamweight. If he cannot, his dream of becoming the youngest UFC champion ever will most likely be dashed, and Barcelos will add another highly touted prospect to his resume.

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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Sep 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the MMA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.