Julian Erosa ends his UFC career with a first-round knockout, exactly as he said he would

Julian Erosa closed out his UFC career with a win. He knocked out JeongYeong Lee in the first round of his announced retirement fight at UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Nolan on Oct. 31, earning a Performance of the Night bonus, according to the UFC's own bonus coverage of the card and a same-night recap from Cageside Press, which both put the finish at 1:31 of Round 1.

Lee opened the fight well, landing a left hand that dropped Erosa within the first seconds, Cageside Press reported. Erosa got back up, pressed Lee against the fence for an unsuccessful takedown attempt, then chose to stand and trade. Lee fought with his hands down, and Erosa capitalized with a right hand that ended the bout, according to the outlet's round-by-round account.

Erosa had said in the days before the card that the Lee fight would be his last, regardless of the result. He told James Lynch of Fanatics View that he wanted to set a firm end date now, reasoning that he would want to keep fighting again whether he won or lost, according to Heavy.com's report, which also cited MMAjunkie's coverage of the interview. Erosa, 37, said fatherhood reordered his priorities since the birth of his son, according to Heavy.com.

In a separate interview published the day of the fight, Erosa gave Cageside Press more detail on the timing. He has a two and a half year old son and said he wants to remain mentally sharp for him and for future grandchildren. He traced the decision partly to his own fight with Darren Elkins: after beating Elkins, Erosa watched Elkins fight his own retirement bout and found the aftermath, including Elkins' interviews, difficult to watch, which pushed him to set a firm date of his own rather than let the sport decide for him.

The win moves Erosa to 32-14 as a professional, closing out a UFC run spanning three separate stints with the promotion. Erosa's own UFC athlete profile had listed a 31-14 record heading into the bout, with his two most recent fights both losses: a unanimous decision to Melquizael Costa in May 2025 and a first-round knockout loss to Lerryan Douglas in March.

Lee, a South Korean featherweight who entered the bout at 11-3, drops to 11-4 with the loss, according to his UFC athlete profile.

The UFC's bonus coverage lists Erosa as one of four Performance of the Night winners for the card, alongside main event winner Tom Nolan, UFC debutante Lucia Szabová and Joe Kropschot.

Erosa told Cageside Press he wants to leave the sport on his own terms. "I wanna retire from fighting. I don't want fighting to retire me," he said.