Julian Erosa hopeful for an “all-out 15-minute brawl” at UFC Vegas 72 against Fernando Padilla: “He likes to stand and trade and I’m in the same boat”

Julian Erosa is expecting a Fight of the Night scrap against Fernando Padilla.

Erosa is coming off a first-round KO loss to Alex Caceres back in December, which snapped his three-fight winning streak. It was also disappointing due to the fact Erosa felt like he didn’t do anything wrong, but simply got caught by a surprise kick that he didn’t see coming.

“It felt like I got robbed from a fight, it was like he caught me with a magic trick. It wasn’t like he beat me up and got me tired and beat me that way or knocked me out with like a one-two,” Erosa said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “But, it was a kick that came out of nowhere and he was really good at covering distance and it surprised me in the fight. He overthrew a left hand and I felt like I was far out of the pocket and he was still able to throw that kick up.”

Following the knockout loss to a ranked opponent, Erosa will be making his return at UFC Vegas 72 against UFC newcomer Fernando Padilla. Although that may be a surprise to some, Erosa is willing to fight anyone and is pretty familiar with him as he revealed his coach used to mentor Padilla.

“I don’t know what exactly was in their mindset of setting this fight up. But I was willing to take it,” Erosa explained. “There are a lot of scary dudes they could have given me, and I’m not saying Fernando doesn’t have the ability to beat me in any sense and he’s not scary, but it’s a little weird. This is his debut; this is my 13th UFC fight and he’s had a two-year layoff as well. But I think stylistically and size-wise, it’s good for the matchmakers to set this up. It’ll be a fun one for everyone watching.”

With Julian Erosa liking the style matchup, he’s expecting a very fun fight against Fernando Padilla. Erosa believes it will be a drawn-out brawl and is confident he will finish Padilla in the third round once the Mexican in the third round.

“He likes to stand and trade and I’m in the same boat as him. I feel like the majority of the fight will take place on the feet and if I can drag him to the third round, I can get him tired and get a TKO or KO finish in the third. Obviously, his jiu-jitsu is pretty good so I’m not going to double-leg him or play in his guard… I really want an all-out 15-minute brawl. It’s fun and I enjoy that. I’d love to have a long-drawn-out brawl,” Erosa said.

Should Erosa get the stoppage win he’s after, ‘Juicy J’ doesn’t care what’s next for him. Instead, he just wants to be as active as possible and make as much money as possible while he’s fighting in the UFC.

“Just stay busy. I’m healthy, I’ve been so lucky with injuries and being able to stay healthy. I just want to fight as much as possible, I really don’t care who it is and I want to fight in the UFC,” Erosa concluded.

Do you think Julian Erosa will finish Fernando Padilla at UFC Vegas 72?