Julian Erosa is eager for the chance to fight close to home at UFC Seattle.

Erosa got injured in his last fight and knew he needed to take some time off, yet this was a longer layoff than expected. However, it was due to the fact that the UFC was returning to Seattle, which Erosa wanted to be on as he’s from Washington state.

“I got injured in my last fight, I broke my orbital,” Erosa said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “So it took about three months for me to get back in sparring and training. I needed a little bit of a layoff, but I was actually trying to fight in November or December of last year. I tried January, and then I heard Seattle in March.

“So I told my manager that if they could get me on that card, I’d wait and be forever grateful. It’s a full circle for me, I really wanted to fight under the UFC banner in Washington state.”

Once Erosa got told he’d be on UFC Seattle, he was offered to face Lerryan Douglas. Douglas is making his UFC debut, and Erosa admits he wasn’t too familiar with him.

Julian Erosa expects to finish Lerryan Douglas

“Not very familiar with him at all. I’ve seen some highlights of him, but I have watched him now,” Erosa said. “He has a lot of decent footage, so I think it doesn’t matter how much you know or think you know about someone until you are in the cage with them. We aren’t going to know until the first minute of the fight.”

Although Julian Erosa wasn’t too familiar with Lerryan Douglas, he does believe this is a favorable matchup for him. And, a big reason why is due to the UFC experience, which Erosa believes will play a key role at UFC Seattle.

“I think this is a favorable matchup for me, based on the experience. But just focused on this fight and getting the finish,” Erosa added.

If Erosa gets his hand raised at UFC Seattle, he said the goal is to be active this year and bank as much money as possible.

“Winning fights is about as important as it comes. But, please get three fights. There are times you get shelved for no reason. For me, my biggest goal is to get three fights this year,” Erosa concluded.

Do you think Julian Erosa will beat Lerryan Douglas at UFC Seattle?