“Oh, one hundred percent,” Erosa said. “Even watching the last Nate fight when he fought Darren Elkins, you can just tell he’s one of those gritty guys and you know that he’s not gonna take ‘no’ for an answer. He’s going to be in your face, he’s going to be willing to die that night to win that fight, and that’s the same kind of mindset that I’ve always had. And I think it’s because me and him are those type of guys, just grinding through the regional circuit and fighting these dudes – doesn’t matter who it is, when it is, how it is, we’re willing to do it.”
It was on the tough regional circuit of the Pacific Northwest that Seattle native Erosa made his bones in the fight game and built a reputation as a fighter to watch, even if it wasn’t during a time like today, when practically every local show is streamed online somewhere.
“All the guys I was fighting back then were just as good as me,” the 31-year-old recalls. “I never really had a guy that I fought in my pro career – or even in my amateur career – that it was like, ‘Oh, this guy’s a bum, I’m just gonna go in there and smash him.’ All the guys I was fighting were more experienced than me or just as good as me.”
In 2015, the 14-2 Erosa got a spot on season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter, making it to the semifinals. That should have been a good jumpstart to a UFC career, but after winning his debut over Marcin Wrzosek, he lost his next fight to Teruto Ishihara and was cut.