He reached the UFC with a 7-2 record having rattled off seven consecutive victories after dropping his first two professional fights, and he still maintains a 100-percent finishing rate with all 11 of his victories coming inside the distance. He looked razor-sharp dispatching Orion Cosce and Jason Witt in back-to-back outings, following those efforts up with a third-round stoppage win over Niko Price that had people wondering if the Fusion Xcel representative was on the cusp of breaking into the welterweight rankings.
But then, he stumbled. Consecutive losses to Magny and Jake Matthews froze his momentum and forced him to reset. It looked like a third straight setback was all but assured after the first 10 minutes of his fight with Loosa this summer only for Rowe to go Super Saiyan and claim the last-minute finish.
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“Usually fights play out and they end well, so all it is is me being more present, and me understanding my time is limited, so I’ve gotta maximize it,” he said, his tone a mix of longstanding frustration and resignation. “I’m trying to do the best I can, man. I’ve been in camps with the best guys in the world — fly me, pay me to be there for a reason. I can fight — I know I can fight; I just gotta do it.
“I should be deleting these cats immediately,” continued Rowe. “None of these guys, top to bottom, are as skillful as me. I know it. I’ve been in rooms with the best guys. The best grapplers in the world, the best strikers, the best boxers. Show me a fighter that has grappled the best guys, that’s boxed the best guys, that’s kickboxed the best guys. You can’t! You can’t show me a welterweight that’s grappled Gordon Ryan, Craig Jones, Nicky Rod; that has Olympic medalists around him — you can’t!
“I’ve seen every facet of the fight game — I just gotta go do it, that’s all.”
