This American Top Team fighter is cooking up a winning plan for UFC’s return on Saturday
UFC is back, and American Top Team’s Charles “Boston Strong” Rosa is part of it, history in the making.
Rosa (12-3) battles unbeaten Bryce Mitchell (12-0) in a featherweight contest during the early preliminary card on ESPN+ to help usher in the return of UFC with UFC 249 on Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.
Originally scheduled for April 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, UFC 249 was eventually postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
UFC president Dana White announced last week the new date and location for the show. It will mark the first of three UFC cards in eight days, all at the same venue in Jacksonville. There will be no audience at any of the events because of health concerns stemming from the coronavirus.
With that news, there marked some changes to UFC 249 with Rosa vs. Mitchell added to it. They were originally scheduled to fight at UFC Fight Night 174 on May 2.
Here is my audio interview with Charles Rosa as he discusses the return of UFC, being part of it, MMA, graduating from culinary school, moving to South Florida, his love for cooking, working as a chef, stumbling upon American Top Team, boxing, family, Boston, TD Garden, Tom Brady, chicken parmesan and his family’s foundation dedicated to his older brothers.
The main event for UFC 249 features Justin Gaethje (21-2) against Tony Ferguson (25-3) for the interim lightweight title.
About Charles Rosa
Born and raised in Peabody, Massachusetts, Rosa, 33, played football, hockey, lacrosse, and also trained in karate. His family has a boxing background as his father, grandfather, and uncle were professional boxers.
Rosa earned a degree in culinary arts from the Johnson & Wales University, where he also played college lacrosse, in Providence, Rhode Island. Famous chefs such as Michelle Bernstein, Graham Elliot, Rahman “Rock” Harper, Chris Hastings, Andy Husbands, Scott Leibfried, Anna Olson, Aaron Sanchez, Chris Santos and Emeril Lagasse are alumni.
Rosa moved to South Florida searching for a job and a boxing gym. He found work in the restaurant business and stumbled upon the award-winning American Top Team in Coconut Creek. He began training in mixed martial arts, leading to his latest foray.
Rosa, who is also a chef, has accumulated three UFC Fights of the Night and one UFC Performance of the Night honors.
His focus is MMA, but when time permits, Rosa works as a chef at an upscale steakhouse, Cut 432, in Delray Beach. Growing up in an Italian household, he loves Italian food, especially Chicken Parmesan.
Rosa is from a close family of five kids. Through he, his siblings and his parents, they set-up a foundation, Chucky’s Fight, dedicated to knocking out substance abuse. He lost his two older brothers, Domenic and Vincent, from accidental drug overdoses.
Here is the website: http://www.chuckysfight.com/.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chuckysfight/.
UFC 249 with more ATT flare
On the main card of UFC 249, former NFL football player-turned MMA fighter Greg Hardy (5-2-1), also of American Top Team in South Florida, faces Yorgan de Castro (6-0) in a heavyweight competition.
For the entire UFC 249 card, click: https://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-249
How to watch
6:30 p.m.: UFC Fight Pass, ESPN and ESPN+ - Prelim fights begin
8 p.m.: ESPN - Prelims begin
10 p.m.: ESPN+ — Main card begins (live on Pay-Per-View)
https://www.espn.com/mma/fightcenter
https://www.foxsports.com/ufc/story/khabib-nurmagomedov-tony-ferguson-ufc-249-041820
UFC socially acceptable
Website: https://www.ufc.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ufc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/UFC/
Charles Boston Strong Rosa Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharlesRosaMMA
Cut 432 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cut432
My Pro Wrestling and MMA Talk on the Web and Social Media
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fighting/
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