Frederic Vosgrone has no idea what makes him a star, but life hasn't been the same since the moment he first entered the Oktagon cage in April 2025.

The Dutch fighter was 3-0 in the sport when he made his promotional debut against Jorick Montagnac, making it clear that grappling was his go-to thing in MMA when he grabbed Montagnac's leg like his life depended on it. It paid off, as he took his opponent to the ground and got the tap with an arm-triangle choke. That sequence went viral almost immediately.

Vosgrone saw his Instagram page go from 4,000 followers to hundreds of thousands in a matter of weeks, and tapping out Fabio Moraes months later only grew his name in Europe. From an unknown grappler to 5-0 MMA sensation, Vosgrone was now posing for pictures with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt and about to face off with veteran Karlos Vemola at Oktagon 94 in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sept. 26.

“It's difficult to even find the word for it,†Vosgrone told MMA Fighting earlier this year. “I don't think the word has been invented, you know? Especially the first couple of months was kind of living in some alternative reality [laughs], Sometimes I'm like, ‘what the fuck?' Crazy. I guess trying to get used to it. I probably could have met more famous people, but I try to not to do much. I feel like as long as I'm a successful fighter, all the things are going to happen anyway even more.â€

Life as star is good and you want to make the most of it, but it comes with extras that could affect the actual fighting career of someone who's just starting in the game. Vosgrone, now with 665,000 followers on Instagram, “quickly realized that it's going to be difficult to do real training†if he decided to say yes to every invitation to podcasts, interviews, and appearances.

“It was always pretty difficult doing jiu-jitsu and teaching and fighting MMA on smaller shows; now it makes it easier to focus on [just] fighting,†Vosgrone said. “But also obviously with a lot more pressure, a lot more people's eyes on me, so I need to make sure that I keep going. Otherwise, I pretty much just do the same things, try to train and don't try to get distracted, just focusing on not letting people down [laughs].â€

In the end, the light heavyweight sensation says “I don't even know†what makes him such a star in the MMA scene.

“I mean, obviously in Germany I understand, there's not too many good German fighters, so the people get behind the good ones,†Vosgrone said. “But then I see a lot of people in Brazil know me and then I'm like crazy. I guess if I'm entertaining for the people and they like it then, yeah. I guess the social media algorithms love me [laughs].â€

Vosgrone knows that the sport is cruel and one punch landed on the right spot could immediately ruin the fun and turn himself in a meme. However, he guarantees that pressure to continue to deliver entertainment and victories won't get to his head “because I'm pretty confident in my fighting skills and I've achieved a lot of things before MMA and jiu-jitsu.â€

“I fought good opponent that I beat in MMA, and I'm pretty confident that I'm going to beat many more really good people,†Vosgrone said, “so I'm not really too worried about that too much. But obviously, still gives me fire to improve and show the people what I can do. … My goal since when I started jiu-jitsu was always to fight in the UFC, so yeah, that's still my ultimate goal. And I feel like if you're an MMA fighter and you haven't been in the UFC, maybe you're gonna feel after that you've missed out on something, or you didn't achieve something, so I definitely want to fight there.â€

He won't think too much about the future when there are challenges in front of him in Oktagon. For now, Vosgrone is just excited to return to Germany.

“I'm pretty excited,†Vosgrone said. “The scene here is pretty crazy, and the support I get from the fans here when I was walking out like last fight, I definitely can't wait to feel that energy again.â€

Raul Rosas Jr. has never been finished in MMA, winning six of seven fights in the UFC en route to his first UFC main event Saturday in Las Vegas, but Raoni Barcelos plans to expose him Sept. 26 at the Meta APEX.

Barcelos was already a professional MMA fighter before Rosas Jr. celebrated his eighth birthday, claiming the Shooto Brazil and RFA belts on his way to the UFC. On a five-fight winning streak now against the likes of Cody Garbrandt and Payton Talbott, the 39-year-old veteran believes he brings more to the table than Rosas Jr. has had to deal with in his career so far.

“I believe all the opponents he's faced so far, Rob Font and others, have been extremely tough athletes, without taking anything away from anyone,†Barcelos told MMA Fighting, “but I think he still hasn't faced a guy who could really complicate his game. He's never faced a guy with good wrestling; he's never faced a guy with good jiu-jitsu, someone who can disrupt his game. That someone is me, that guy who can make things difficult for him in any area he wants to take the fight. To answer your question, he's never fought someone like me. Not trying to be better than others, but it's a style that can complicate his game more.â€

Rosas Jr.'s sole UFC setback came in a decision against Christian Rodriguez in his second octagon appearance at 18 years of age, and since then he's defeated more experienced opponents, including Rob Font and Vince Morales. Barcelos expects the Mexican prospect to look for grappling and wrestling exchanges in the octagon, and that happens to be his bread and butter.

“We have a very good no-gi jiu-jitsu team. I'm not going to be uncomfortable,†Barcelos said. “If the fight goes in that direction, we have all the time; we have five rounds to get tangled up and end up working our jiu-jitsu in the best way possible. The whole team is very much on the same page about that, and we're going in there to finish this fight before 25 minutes.â€

Barcelos will have longtime friend Glover Teixeira in his corner for the first time in nearly six years, reuniting with the man responsible for pushing him to make the transition from jiu-jitsu and wrestling to MMA rings and cages in Brazil in the early 2010's. Barcelos spent three weeks training with the former UFC champion in Danbury before starting his camp in Rio de Janeiro, and said he feels “safer†with Teixeira next to his father and mentor Laerte Barcelos, as well as coaches Davi Ramos and Andre Felipe.

“Glover is a guy who inspires me a lot,†Barcelos said. “I've always told him that. He always said that age is just a number, that it's in our heads, and he proved to everyone that it's possible to make it there. Through all the work and dedication, he was able to make it. I consider Glover my godfather in MMA. He was the one who introduced me to the sport. I have a lot of respect for him. We talk a lot. Whenever I can, I talk to him, and we exchange ideas. I'm very happy to be able to have Glover back in my corner again after, I don't know, six years.â€

Barcelos was over the moon when the UFC called with an offer to be the main event for the first time under the brighter lights in Las Vegas, and it was “like a movie played in my head.†Although he seeks an emphatic finish Saturday, a potential 25 minutes of action could be an edge over a less experienced opponent.

“The UFC gets an opportunity to see my performance getting better and better,†Barcelos said. “Five rounds is nothing new for me. I've fought three or four times, if I'm not mistaken, back in my RFA days. I believe this might be something new for Raul, but that doesn't mean much either because he's 21 years old, so he's very young. I'm sure he's going to come very prepared for it.â€

Barcelos has two names in mind for a callout to “shine†even brighter next and a win Saturday could boost Barcelos up towards the top of the bantamweight class, but he knows “everything depends on my performance in the cage.â€

“Mario Bautista would be a very good fight,†Barcelos said, “especially because he's now ranked No. 4 in the division and had an excellent fight in his last bout [against Cory Sandhagen]. And there's David Martinez. I think those are two very strong names. Those are the two athletes I think I'm going to ask for up there in the cage.â€