Credit: MMA Weekly
Ray Rodriguez hopes to parlay 12 years of hard work into UFC contract
Ray Rodriguez discusses his upcoming fight with Tony Gravely at Dana White’s Contender Series 24. The bantamweight contest, along with the rest of the event will take place Aug. 13 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“The Judge” discusses how the fight with Gravely is more of a throwback fight to the earlier seasons of the Contender Series in regards to their veteran experience, his familiarity with Gravely as an opponent when the fight was offered to him, what he learned from his last loss in 2018 when he was submitted by now UFC bantamweight Chris Gutierrez, how teammate and UFC lightweight Alex Hernandez snapped him out of a training funk, the additional fire attending UFC San Antonio put in his belly, how he sees the fight playing out and much more.
Rodriguez also discusses what it would mean to him if all goes well on Tuesday night and Dana White awards him a contract.
“It means everything,” Rodriguez told MyMMANews.com. “After that ‘L’ (to Chris Gutierrez) it changed my life. I have three kids and it will allow them to live a more comfortable life. It also means that the 12 years of hard work that I put into my craft are paying off and I want to show my kids that things aren’t always going to be easy. There was a point in my career where I was 5-4. I kept it up, I stayed resilient, and I want to show them that it pays off. Not everything in this life is easy but if you keep at it, it can definitely pay off. That’s one thing I want to showcase on Aug. 13. You have to be resilient in hard times. Those hard times are going to come, it’s inevitable. You just have to stay strong, hold the course and keep on pushing through.”
Check out the full interview with Ray “The Judge” Rodriguez as he prepares for one of the most fascinating and intriguing matchups of the 2019 Dana White’s Contender Series season with Tony Gravely in the video above.
