Yair Rodriguez Confirms UFC Return, Fight Booked for UFC 228 in September
Yair Rodriguez is officially back in the UFC.
The former ‘Ultimate Fighter: Latin America’ winner was dropped from the roster just a couple of weeks ago after UFC president Dana White said he had refused to take fights and the promotion decided to release him from his contract.
It was stunning news considering Rodriguez had been pegged as one of the best up and coming talents in the featherweight division with a 6-1 record in the UFC.
White didn’t seem to show much remorse last weekend when he addressed Rodriguez’s release at the UFC Fight Night card in Liverpool, England.
“When I call you and offer you a fight, you should probably take it,” White said about Rodriguez. “You should probably take it. I make 42 fights a year and if you don’t want to fight and you want to be picky and choosy, and you don’t want to do this and you don’t want to do that, then you probably need to go somewhere else and I’ll help you get there.”
Despite that statement it appears Rodriguez ended up speaking to UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby through a mutual friend and the two sides were able to hash out an agreement to return to the organization as well as book his next fight.
Rodriguez revealed the news via Twitter following an initial report from ESPN:
“Sean Shelby and I have a friend in common, Mario Delgado, he was he connection between Sean and I where we had a friendly conversation during lunch on Friday. We got into the interview realization that what happened was a big miscommunication and bad timing,” Rodriguez said.
“After the conversation, I’m happy to know that the UFC and I are in the best terms ever and now I’m back on track to chase my dream of [becoming] a UFC champion. Zabit Magomedsharipov, see you Sept. 8 in Las Vegas.”
#happynews
.@zabit_mma @ufc @UFCEspanol @bokamotoESPN pic.twitter.com/8xGDaZFuNn— Yair Rodriguez (@panteraufc) June 2, 2018
Rodriguez had previously been attached to two separate fights that apparently led to his dismissal from the organization. One of those matchups was a proposed fight against Magomedsharipov and now it seems that bout will move forward in September.
As for the date and location, UFC 228 hasn’t been officially announced by the UFC but T-Mobile Arena is currently booked with a concert so it’s likely that event won’t take place in Las Vegas.
