För några dagar sedan kunde MMAnytt.se rapportera att det unga stjärnskottet Yair Rodriguez blivit av med sitt UFC-kontrakt. Anledningen tycktes vara att ”El Pantera” Rodriguez tackat nej till två matcher men i en intervju med MMA-journalisten Ariel Helwani säger Rodriguez själv att det inte är hela sanningen.
Bekräftat: Dana White har fått nog – Avslutar Yair Rodriguez UFC-kontrakt
”Jag förtjänar en topp 10-motståndare”
Att det är tvära kast i UFC är det ingen som missat men situationen som utspelade sig mellan Rodriguez och organisationen var det säkerligen få som hade kunnat förutspå.
UFCs president Dana White kom först att utannonsera att en match mellan Rodriguez och Zabit Magomedsharipov var klar men ”El Pantera” gick kort därefter ut på sociala medier och kallade uttalandet för ”Fake News.
Därefter dröjde det inte lång tid innan mexikanaren Rodriguez blivit av med sitt UFC-kontrakt, trots att han stått för ett flertal minnesvärda matcher i oktagonen och även är vinnaren av The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America.
Rodriguez har även varit huvudmatch under två galor men i hans senaste match åkte han på sin första förlust i oktagonen då han dominerades av Frankie Edgar. Matchen tog vid under UFC 211 i maj 2017 och sedan dess har det varit tyst kring den 25-åriga mexikanaren.
Det har vida spekulerats kring Rodriguez förlust mot Edgar men enligt honom själv så har han varit inaktiv på grund av familjeangelägenheter.
I februari kände han sig dock redo att återvända till buren och pratade därför med organsationens matchmäklare Sean Shelby:
“I got to talk to Sean Shelby and I told him I was able to fight Josh Emmett in February in Orlando, Florida, to headline that event (UFC on FOX 28),” sade Rodriguez under veckans The MMA Hour. “And I accepted. I stepped up, and I learned that Josh Emmett wouldn’t accept the fight, or I don’t know if the UFC didn’t want to give it to me or whatever, then I was replaced with Jeremy Stephens. Jeremy Stephens took that fight.
“Then, after that, we sat again with the UFC and talked about a few other opponents. I talked to Sean Shelby and he told me, ‘What do you have in your mind?’ I told him I think I at least deserve a top 10. No matter what happens, I think I deserve a top 10 just because of what I already showed in the UFC. I’m 6-1 in the UFC. Not all the fighters in the UFC have the same record as me. I know I’m still a rising star for the sport or whatever, but I know I have done a lot already. I know how many fans I have inside the sport and I don’t think I have to show anybody that I’m not afraid.”
Prospect @PanteraUFC breaks silence and gives his side of the story behind his UFC release. What do you make of this situation? #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/boclw8ZNgG
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) May 21, 2018
Ville möta Edgar på nytt
När det stod klart att Rodriguez på nytt stod utan motståndare så försökte han hoppa in som sen ersättare för att möta Edgar efter att hans titelmatch mot Max Holloway föll igenom.
Edgar kom dock att möta Brian Ortega och förlorade via KO i första ronden. Efter det drog något av en cirkus igång för Rodriguez där han bland annat blev erbjuden matcher mot Ricardo Lamas och Magomedsharipov.
Pengar kan ha spelat en avgörande roll då Rodriguez ville ha mer betalt för att möta Magomedsharipov i Las Vegas
“They said Ricardo Lamas, then I said yes to Ricardo Lamas,” sade Rodriguez. “I accepted to fight Ricardo Lamas, but then I later learned that he didn’t take the fight with me. He decided to fight (Mirsad) Bektic instead. Then, during that process, the Zabit fight was causing a lot of hype on social media. … I was like, alright, this is going to be great. I started looking at the big potential for this fight. And it was kind of my fault that I — like a week after Lamas declined the fight, Sean Shelby called me again and he said, ‘Hey, the Lamas fight is still back open. It’s back open for you to fight.’
And after I was asking for any top-10 [opponent] and they didn’t want to give it to me, and then Lamas took Bektic instead of me, I was kind of disappointed. Just kind of disappointed, I’ll say that.
“I started looking at this other fight with Zabit. It was making a lot of sense for me because of the stylistic matchup and stuff. We saw big potential of renegotiating my contract. There was a negotiation that if they wanted me to fight him in LA (at UFC 227), which, I said I’ll fight him in LA, of course, but [only] if you pay me more, because I had saying for the last year that I wanted to fight a top 10 [opponent].
I’m not picking my opponents. I’m just saying I deserve a top 10. Anyone. I actually asked for ‘Korean Zombie’ as well, but they told me he wasn’t ready, even though he posted some stuff on Twitter saying that he wanted to fight Frankie.
“I was like, okay, I’ll fight Zabit if you give me more money in LA, because I understand how big of an event it is, and they said no,” fortsatte Rodriguez. “I was like, okay, if you don’t want to give me more money to fight him in LA, why don’t you give [the fight] to me in Russia, and there’s no need to do any negotiation for that. I want him in Russia.
Why? Because he was calling me out. I’m the guy who, I never say much, I just act. I don’t have to be talking about this on my social media.
“They didn’t even want to give it to me in Russia. Then I was like, okay, you don’t want to give me more money to fight him in LA, you don’t want to give me a top-10 [opponent]. Now I’m looking — now I see how the things are going.”
Trots den senaste tidens turbulenta tid så ser Rodriguez positivt på framtiden. Han säger själv att han har fått ett stort antal erbjudanden från andra organisationer och att han är glad:
“I can’t talk too much about it, brother, but there’s been offers,” sade Rodriguez. “There’s been really good offers on the table, but you’ll hear soon about what’s going to happen next with me.
“I’m happy,” fortsatte han. “Of course, you always want more because you think you deserve more. It’s just the way that it is. Nobody is happy with whatever they have. But … I’m really happy with the offers right now. I’m happy with what is on the table right now. I’m just being smart, I’ve been waiting to see all the offers, and I know my next move is going to be really important for my career and my life.”
“This doesn’t stop here. This is the just the beginning of something greater.” avslutade han.
* Intervjun är transkriberad av MMA Fighting
Du kan se hela intervjun i spelaren ovan.
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