Report: Yair Rodriguez cut by UFC after not accepting multiple fights
Upcoming featherweight Yair Rodriguez will no longer be fighting for the UFC after he and the promotion couldn’t agree on his next fight. According to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, Dana White has said that that Rodriguez was released from his contract after turning down fights with both Ricardo Lamas and Zabit Magomedsharipov which were targeted for UFC 227 in Los Angeles.
After a thrilling performance at UFC 223, Magomedsharipov called for a fight against Rodriguez that made fight fans excited and both fighters intrigued for a great matchup in the featherweight division. At the time of his release, Rodriguez was ranked 11th in the division while Lamas was at 7 and Magomedsharipov was ranked 13th.
In a conversation with Pugmire, White didn’t hold back in letting his feelings be known about Rodriguez and his refusal to take a fight, saying that “Pantera” could go elsewhere.
The guy’s off a year, rejects a fight with Lamas and then doesn’t want to fight a guy below him in the rankings?” White asked Thursday night. “He can go somewhere else. We have no use for him
Rodriguez was 10-2 in his professional MMA career and was 6-1 under the UFC but was coming off a very devastating loss to Frankie Edgar at UFC 211 in 2017. Despite the loss Rodriguez seemed to be getting a push from the promotion, until he turned down fights.
To give even more confirmation to the report, White took to Twitter to respond to Rodriguez who tweeted out: “Fake News”
White made it known that the news was indeed real in his response:
There’s no telling where Yair Rodriguez will fight next, but it won’t be with the UFC.
