Photo courtesy of Raposo's Instagram account.
Mitch Raposo looks to prove he is the scariest prospect in New England at Cage Titans 46
On November 2, Mitch Raposo will make the walk to the cage for the third time as a professional. He’s been referred to since his amateur days as a phenom and one of the top if not the top prospect in all of New England. He’s been surrounded by top flight talent throughout his career as well, when not training with his home team (Regiment Training Center) he gets in rounds at Lauzon MMA, home of Joe Lauzon, Rob Font and Calvin Kattar. He also recently signed with renowned management company Top Game Management. But never has the UFC felt so realistic for the young star who recently turned 21 years old. At UFC 243 in Australia, his teammate Yorgan de Castro made his UFC debut and won via knockout.
For Mitch Raposo, it was surreal to surreal to his “big brother” make it and provides further inspiration.
“It’s huge, me and Yorgan…he’s like my big brother, we do our strength and conditioning together, we always talk about it, he’s a big man in the UFC, I’m going to take over the little dudes in the UFC, it’s pretty cool.”
“I’m so happy for him, nobody deserves it like he does.”
“He texted me already, I can’t wait till your in the UFC, you’re going to shine, we’re going to be shining together.”
“To see a guy like that in the UFC, on the grandest stage of it all and doing great, of course it opens my eyes. Man I’m close, another couple of wins and I might be on the same path he was, Contender Series, UFC and then next thing you know I’m getting $50K bonuses.”
“The next day after his win, I was ready to run a marathon, I was ready to go.”
And with UFC Boston just having taken place and the UFC returning to locations in similar times every year, Raposo believes he has a strong chance of being on that card.
“One hundred percent, there is no way by next fall if there is UFC Boston and I’m not in the UFC, there is no way (I’m not on that card). At the end of the day, things happen like they are but I work my ass off and I’m going to get what I deserve and no one deserves it like I do. I put in the work, like my birthday today (interview took place on his birthday), there’s pictures of me, I swear, look at a picture of me when I’m twelve years old you’ll see the fire in my eyes. I’ve had it all throughout the years.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4QxZUyByJ6/
There is no time to rest on his laurels for Raposo as he pursues his dream training three times a day on his birthday but he is learning to enjoy the moment as he was convinced to have his first drink (a tequila sunrise). But he is in camp and his eyes are always on the prize. And that prize is the UFC.
But Mitch Raposo doesn’t care about how he gets into the UFC, he just knows he will be there soon enough.
“So at the end of the day if I get in on the Contender Series, or if I get on UFC Boston or if I get in after that, I’m going to get in, there is no doubt about that.”
The top prospect hasn’t slowed down since he entered the sport, continuously taking fights. Since his amateur debut in 2017, he has fought nine times and since he turned professional in 2019, he will have fought three times (including upcoming fight on November 2nd). Because of the consistency in fighting, Raposo has built a comfort level in the cage and he says, that should worry his future opponents.
“I’m just comfortable, it’s so funny to me, when I was 18 or 19 years old, all everybody could talk about was the decision shit, its all anybody could talk about, they should’ve been focusing on the fact that I was dominating people without ( a problem), I felt comfortable. I had dudes that were 30 years old and had ten pro fights hating on me, it’s crazy, now look at me, I’m 2-0 and in two fights, I’ve barely spent two and a half minutes in the cage. I don’t really give a shit about regionals, at the end of the day, I’m built for the championship level, that’s what I’m built for.”
“If I’m comfortable, skill for skill, there is nobody I think can beat me.”
Though he plans on staying consistent in getting fights and he believes he will be in the UFC sooner rather than later, he is well aware that he is nowhere near his prime and he is ok with waiting for his call if that’s how it’s meant to be.
“I’m six/seven years away from my prime. At the end of the day, the only way to get experience is to fight. If I get to the UFC at 24 I don’t care, I don’t give a shit how good I am right now, I don’t care.”
“I care about how good I’m going to be in five or six years.”
When Raposo faces Zachary Burhans at Cage Titans 46 on November 2nd (airing on FloCombat), he won’t underestimate his opponent even though he has a five hundred record (3-3) and coming off of three losses. After all, Burhans has a lot to gain by beating Raposo and Burhans has proven he is legit.
“I put myself in his position, he has the opportunity to squash the hype of the biggest prospect in New England. This kid has the opportunity to take it from me. So that’s why I’m working as hard as I am. I don’t care how many times he lost, know legit he is because I know how hard he is going to work because he can take everything from me. I know he’s hungry and wants it but I’m going to show him why I’m in New England, I’m going to show him why everyone believes I belongs in the UFC right now, I’m going to show him why I’m going to be a UFC world champion, that’s my job, I don’t worry about his job. If I was in his position, I got a kid, everyone’s on him, I’m going to go in there and take his hype. But unfortunately for him, I don’t buy into the hype, I go out there and work my ass off and I look to fight and skill for skill he can’t compete with me.”
“At the end of the day let’s think about this, let’s break this down so I fought my second pro fight, I fought Raymond Yanez, he fought Johnny Cupcakes and I finished him faster than all of them did. I have the best manager in the game, Tyson Chartier, who am I? I’m a twenty-year-old kid, I don’t know shit about the sport yet.”
If there was to be a criticism of Mitch Raposo, it would be that he hasn’t faced the toughest competition. In his last two fights, Raposo hasn’t fought someone with a winning record and his upcoming fight is against an opponent who is 3-3. But as Mitch Raposo explains, he isn’t fighting cans and it’s all part of his management’s plan.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3ZeJTtBunm/
“We’re focused on Zachary Burhans and I’m going to put this kid away, there’s no doubt about it, that’s what I’m focused on. If I’m not focused on him he will beat me, at the end of the day, anybody can beat you in this sport, it’s a crazy, crazy game, you can’t take anybody for granted. But at the end of the day, the guy we got in line for next, he’s a big step up and he’s got more than a record that people can say, I’m going to go in there and put him away too.”
Raposo doesn’t care what anyone thinks, he just wants to prove once again on November 2nd, that he is the scariest prospect in New England.
“I’m the scariest prospect in New England and I’m going to keep working my ass off to show it.”
And once he proves it again, Mitch Raposo might be celebrating with a few more tequila sunrises.
