The MMA debut of Penn State wrestling great Roman Bravo-Young ended in a draw.
Roman Bravo-Young vs Alex Perez ends in a draw pic.twitter.com/hAVgSB1CQR
— WrestlersGrind (@_wrestlersgrind) June 30, 2023
The fight went the full 10-minutes and ended just as RBY had Alex Perez (24-7-1) in a triangle choke.
Bravo-Young’s MMA debut— which happened on the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4– wasn’t as glamours as that of fellow PSU legend Bo Nickal.
Nickal knocked out John Noland in 32 seconds, competing in Jorge Masvidal’s Ikon Fighting Championship. Nickal has won three fights since then, the most recent being his UFC debut in March. Nickal’s next fight is scheduled for next Saturday, July 8, against Tresean Gore (5-2) at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. We’ll see if that one goes past the first round.
It’s unclear if RBY’s MMA career will mirror Nickal’s, but his legacy at Penn State is set in stone. Bravo-Young put together one of the greatest careers in Penn State history. He was a three-time All-American, winning three Big Ten championships and two national titles. Bravo-Young’s career didn’t have the storybook ending he and Penn State wanted. The 133-pounder lost his last college match, this past March, a national final against Cornell’s Vito Arujau. Nonetheless, what a career it was.
Although he’s planning to dabble in MMA, Roman Bravo-Young is still focused on having a wrestling career. This was evident in his tweet announcing his impending MMA debut and is also evident by him joining the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club last month.
One of RBY’s Penn State teammates is also looking into an MMA career. Carter Starocci, a three-time national champion who still has two seasons of eligibility left, has mentioned the possibility in interviews and even broke down a list of possible opponents in an interview with UFC.com.
