Karol Rosa in No Rush

Karol Rosa believes in the long game.

The 30-year-old Brazilian will look to hold her place in line inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight division when she puts Ailin Perez to the test as part of the UFC 311 undercard this Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Rosa owns a respectable 7-3 record in the promotion but has alternated wins and losses in each of her past six appearances.

“These years have been very good for me,” she told Sherdog.com. “Over time, I have matured a lot as a professional. I have fought opponents that I saw on TV before I was even in the UFC. I was able to improve my game a lot.”

Despite her sustained success at the sport’s highest level, Rosa has shown a willingness to step out of her comfort zone. She moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil, some five months ago to form the GAEA Project—an all-female team—alongside Denise Gomes and Jessica Andrade. Early returns have been positive.

“I trained with several girls, old partners and some who came to help me,” Rosa said. “We spent the whole end of the year training. It was an incredible camp.”

Perez, 30, enters the cage with significant momentum. The Argentinian has rattled off four consecutive victories since her rear-naked choke submission defeat to Stephanie Egger in 2022. Perez last competed at UFC Fight Night 243, where she took care of Darya Zheleznyakova with an arm-triangle choke in the first round of their Sept. 28 confrontation.

“We already know what her game is,” Rosa said. “She really likes to play her grappling game, but I’m also a ground fighter. I started martial arts with jiu-jitsu, so I believe that wherever the fight goes, I will do well. Normally, everyone wants to end the fight quickly, with a knockout or submission, but this time, I want to fight for three rounds. I want to show that I’m complete and that I’m ready for whatever comes. I will win this fight because I believe that I’m more complete than her.”

It marks Rosa’s first assignment since she laid claim to a unanimous decision over former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Pannie Kianzad at UFC on ESPN 61 in August. She has mapped out a clear direction for her career moving forward.

“My plan for this year is to have three fights,” Rosa said. “I talked to my manager, and we’re going to take it slow this year towards the belt. That’s our plan, but everything can change. I intend to have three fights, and I don’t care who it is.”