Headlining that event opposite another top amateur prospect and likely hometown favorite in Guilherme Moreira of Team Tooke, the 26-year-old Rosales will no doubt be pushing himself against his toughest challenge yet in this upcoming fight.
With that in mind, it’s a good thing Santos has prepared himself well to get to this point.
Growing up with an eye for fighting, the native son of Corpus honed his pugilistic skill by jumping into the boxing gym at a young age, amassing a seven-fight record as an amateur. Eager to round out his skill set and citing that fighting “is just fun,” young Santos also joined the wrestling team as yet another means to exert his physicality during his high school days.
After graduating, Santos took a leave of absence from the sporting world of boxing rings and wrestling mats to enlist in the Armed Forces as a member of the United States Navy, a natural progression for anyone out of Corpus seeking to serve seeing as the sparkling city by the bay is home to the Naval Air Station and the USS Lexington (retired aircraft carrier turned floating museum).
By the time he was out of service, the world of MMA was in full swing servicing combat sports fans everywhere so it was only natural that Santos jump in to training with Hector Munoz and crew at Full Contact Fight Academy.
Asked why he would go straight into doing such a thing, Santos says, “I’ts just the fight in me. I guess I have been after it my whole life. I used to get in a lot of fights. even though it was bad and I shouldn’t have done it, it was fun. now I can do that stuff in the cage and in there, it kind of feels like i’m an animal, caged up in there. You have to fight to win in order to get out.”
Facing his first amateur fight in November of 2009, Rosales rang off four straight wins in his amateur career, winning three out of four fights in under two minutes and all of his fights by TKO for Noe Beltran’s Texas Rage in the Cage promotion.
“I’ve got Aurelio Gallegos Jr. as my head BJJ coach and Hector Munoz as my head coach for MMA. I’m also working with Roger Narvaez, who’s also one of my main coaches and training partners. Then there’s Jimmy and Danny Flick, who may be a lot smaller but have quick hands and great skills so it’s fun training with them. Then there’s Ben (Flores), my main boxing coach, and a whole lot of other guys that come in and out. We’ve got good jiu-jitsu, good kickboxing, good MMA… I’ll be ready.” Santos Rosales
Spending his days going to school to earn a degree in exercise science (with a goal to attain a masters in nutrition) and also working full-time, this fighter seems to be burning the candles at both ends to get ready for this fight and a future as a professional fighter.
“I’ll get up in the morning, do some conditioning run, then go to school. After that, it’s BJJ, pads, etc. and back to school or work. During my break (as a personal trainer), I’ll go and spar and come and train on Saturdays when I’m not working. If I’m not in the gym, I’ll do some conditioning by myself or roll with Roger and Hector. It’s hectic and all over the place but its hard training and I’m ready.”
Asked what he thinks of his Cage Combat 3 opponent, Rosales didn’t really know too much about G. Moreira, nor does he appear that concerned.
“I think he’s a jujitsu guy from his last fight I saw. I’m not too sure about his hands and his standup.”
Asked if he was worried about the Brazilian’s ground game or his hands, Santos replied, “My ground game is pretty legit as well. The hands part, I have two other main sparring partners and they are actually boxers as well. I go in there and we bang it out so I’m not too worried about my boxing and my hands, I’m fine there. That’s where I like to keep the fight most of the time, I love to keep it standing. I will win the fight wherever it takes place. I’m gonna be ready for a five round war if it lasts that long.”
Fighter Acknowledgements
