Yair confirms he’s back in the UFC, cites miscommunication
Yair Rodriguez: “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.”
With Conor McGregor’s wheels coming off, Jon Jones suspended, Brock Lesnar suspended, Ronda Rousey moving on to the WWE, and GSP suffering from health issues, the UFC has no massive pay per view television draws. Featherweight Yair Rodriguez appeared to have the potential to be a next big thing. Thus there was great surprise when the UFC released him for reportedly turning down back to back fights.
However, ESPN’s well-connected Brett Okamoto reported recently that ‘El Pantera’ was back in the UFC, and would be fighting Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC 228 on September 8. Now the news has been confirmed by the fighter himself.
Rodriguez cited Mario Delgado as a factor in the reconciliation. Delgado is a UFC analyst, Renzo Gracie black belt, and president of Mexico’s national BJJ association.
“To all my fans, friends and family for always been supportive of my career,” he wrote on his social network. “As well I’ll like to thank all of those companies showing interest in my persona and work. Sean Shelby and I have a friend in common, Mario Delgado, he was the connection between us. He set up a meeting 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. 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 September 8th in Las Vegas.”
