One last fight for “Juicy J.”
Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight veteran Julian Erosa will make his final walk to the Octagon this weekend (Sat., Oct. 31, 2026) when he battles Jeong Yeong Lee on the UFC Vegas 123 preliminary card from inside Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Recently, Erosa, 37, quietly revealed that the Halloween showdown will be his retirement fight, regardless of the result.
“I haven’t really made it a big deal, but this will be my last fight,” Erosa told Fanatics View. “I just wanted to give myself one more opportunity to try to get my hand raised, but I wanted to make it a date of when I was going to be done because I think the problem is, win, lose or draw, I’m going to want to fight again. So, I have to make a date because if I win the fight, all I want to do after I win a fight is do it again, because it’s the best feeling, obviously, for us fighters to win a fight in the UFC.”
Erosa understands that neither victory nor defeat will make walking away any easier. A win would convince him that he still belongs, while a loss would leave him chasing redemption.
“I think it’s actually harder if I win my fight for me to want to hang it up because, ‘Why am I going to hang it up? I’m doing good. Let’s keep this going,’” Erosa said. “But if I lose, all I’m going to want is redemption.”
“So, win, lose or draw, I think it’s just going to be something I’m going to want to do again anyway. I have to make the conscious decision beforehand that this is going to be my last fight and be happy with that — be okay with that.”
“Juicy J” enters his final appearance following a first-round knockout loss to Lerryan Douglas at UFC Seattle in March (watch highlights). Before that setback, Erosa had rattled off four consecutive victories, defeating Ricardo Ramos, Christian Rodriguez, Darren Elkins and Melquizael Costa.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 22 veteran has competed professionally since 2010 and survived multiple UFC departures before finally finding consistency during his third stint with the promotion. His fight against Lee will mark his 19th Octagon appearance.
Erosa plans to move his family from Las Vegas back to his home state of Washington, where he will focus on his family and business opportunities. He also acknowledged that training has become more of a grind, especially as younger fighters arrive at the gym with more energy and continue closing the skill gap.
“The order of things that are important in my life has switched a little bit after having my son,” Erosa said. “Fighting used to be my life, and now I have other things that are on top of that. So, I’ve got to look out for those things, and if I can get out of fighting with my health intact, that’s what I want.”
Whether he leaves the Octagon with one final victory or another reason to crave redemption, Erosa has already decided that the final horn at UFC Vegas 123 will also signal the end of his fighting career.
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