Local fighters in spotlight for historic UFC card at Sphere

Three-hour training sessions aren’t uncommon for rising UFC lightweight Daniel Zellhuber; they’re the norm.

The 25-year-old often feels spent by the time he’s leaving the famed Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts gym in the evenings, but lately, a sight on his drive home has tended to reenergize him. Zellhuber has always enjoyed a daily “nice view” of the Strip but lately he’s been darting his eyes toward the Sphere, where he’ll be fighting on the pay-per-view portion of Riyadh Season Noche UFC tonight against Esteban Ribovics.

“From afar I’m thinking about, ‘I’m going to be fighting there, I’m going to be a part of the first generation of fighters to ever fight in the Sphere,’ ” Zellhuber said. “It’s something that excites me a lot. It’s something that has me dreaming every day.”

UFC President Dana White has hyped tonight’s pay-per-view card as his promotion’s “greatest of all-time,” at least from a presentation standpoint. He’s reported more than $20 million in production costs to maximize Sphere’s visual capabilities via films that will serve as a “love letter to Mexico,” and the country’s fighting spirit during its Independence weekend.

The card is loaded with nine Mexican natives or residents including Zellhuber, but there’s also another less obvious class of fighters in abundant supply: Five athletes who train out of Las Vegas will compete as part of the 10-fight event.

They all moved here to elevate their potential with a wealth of gyms and training partners available as well as the UFC’s performance institute. Aspiring martial artists flocking to Las Vegas was a prevalent occurrence when the UFC first rose to prominence two decades ago before eventually dropping off a bit.

Now it’s back more than ever as Las Vegas continues to live up to its reputation as the “Fighting Capital of the World.”

The championship challenger in both tonight’s main event (bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili, who takes on Sean O’Malley) and co-main event (women’s flyweight Valentina Shevchenko, who faces Alexa Grasso), fight out of Las Vegas.

So too does women’s bantamweight Norma Dumont, who takes on Irene Aldana in the preliminary headliner.

Those three fighters were already well-established by the time they came to town, though.

It’s fighters like Zellhuber and the 19-year old Raul Rosas, a bantamweight set to fight Aori Qileng, who best illustrate the trend of young hopefuls heading here for their big breaks.

Both Zellhuber, who’s originally from Mexico City, and Rosas, who comes from Mexican heritage but grew up in Santa Rosa, Calif., relocated to Las Vegas within the past two years. They’ve already seen the decision pay dividends as they’re considered two of the brightest prospects in their respective divisions.

“There’s a lot of good training here, a lot of good fighters, a lot of bodies,” Rosas explained. “We call it the city of opportunities, so I knew this was the move, the next step for my career. I’m thankful my parents brought me here.”

Rosas comes from a fighting family — his two older brothers and older sister have all also logged professional MMA bouts — that realized his ability in martial arts early on. By the time he was 6 years old, his dream was to fight in the UFC, and he realized it was realistic by the time he turned 13 and could outdo the older kids at his home gym.

Rosas’ parents thought a move to Las Vegas was a logical first step. Rosas attended Del Sol High School for a few months before he got too busy after bouncing around several local gyms and landing a UFC contract via “Dana White’s Contender Series.”

He finished work on his high school diploma online.

“This is what me, my brothers and sister wanted to do,” Rosas said. “This was our dream. My parents were just helping us, getting more experience for us. They said this was the next move if we wanted to keep evolving. We listened to them, and now I’m here. Now I feel like I’ve gotten so much better.”

Zellhuber’s move wasn’t as seamless because his family stayed in Mexico City. He looked back on it as one of the toughest decisions he ever had to make for his career.

But he had also earned a UFC deal through “Dana White’s Contender Series” and thought the way to make the most of it was to seek out better training partners and coaches. Zellhuber lost his initial UFC fight but has gone on to win the past three in a row.

“The outcomes of every fight helped me (adjust to being away from home) and, at the end of the day, I have a dream,” Zellhuber said. “I have a vision. I know that I will be world champ one day. Everyone that surrounds me feels the same way because I’m a very hard worker, very focused on what I want. I feel like all those thoughts in my mind keep me going through the hard parts.”

Rosas has also gone 3-1 in the UFC so far with the ultimate goal of becoming a champion. Both fighters have picked up a pair of $50,000 performance bonuses in their past three fights. They’ve turned plenty of heads, not only because of their successes but also their styles.

Zellhuber is known as a show-stopping striker while Rosas is more known as a slick submission specialist, though he did get a 54-second knockout over Terrence Mitchell two fights ago.

“I’m always looking for a finish, it doesn’t matter if it’s on the feet or on the ground,” Rosas said. “I’m always looking to take my opponent out of there every second of the fight. I think that’s why they’re so entertained is because I’m not just going to hold you down or I’m not just going to stand up. I’m going to try to knock you out, I’m going to try to submit you. I feel like that’s why they like watching me fight.”

Rosas said he would be so locked in on the business at hand that he wouldn’t allow himself to take in the groundbreaking scene at the Sphere until after his fight.

Zellhuber planned to take a different approach.

Eric Nicksick, his head coach at Xtreme Couture, has urged him to be present and take in every moment in past fights, and Zellhuber is going to follow that advice at the Sphere. It’s a milestone moment of his career, not only because of the card and venue but also because his parents and brother are leaving Mexico for the first time to come watch him fight.

“I’m going to breathe all that energy and be happy,” Zellhuber said. “I don’t like to be one of those fighters who just go out there trying to be mad. At the end of the day, I enjoy my job. I’m going to enjoy every night of my career.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or