Yair Rodriguez Announces He’s Back in the UFC Fold, Fighting in September
Yair Rodriguez was unexpectedly cut from the UFC roster over an apparent willingness to accept the fights offered him. Now, just a few short weeks later, Rodriguez is just as unexpectedly back in the UFC fold.
"I’m happy to (let you) know that the UFC and I are (on) the best terms ever and now I’m back (on) track to chase my dream of (becoming) a UFC champion," Rodriguez wrote on Instagram account on Saturday.
Rodriguez's release came to light in early May with UFC president Dana White saying, "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? He can go somewhere else. We have no use for him. He calls that fight fake news. This is real news."
This wasn't White jumping the gun either. Rodriguez received a letter of termination and had been in talks with other fight promotions until things took a turn back toward the Octagon on Friday.
"Sean Shelby and I have a friend in common, Mario Delgado, he was the connection between us," Rodriguez wrote. "He set up a meeting between Sean and I, where we had a friendly conversation during lunch on Friday. We got into the interview (with the) realization that what happened was a big miscommunication and bad timing."
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Apparently, following the luncheon, Rodriguez came back to terms with the UFC and agreed to fight one of the men that White had said he was previously unwilling to fight, as Rodriguez continued, saying, "Zabit Magomedsharipov, see you September 8th in Las Vegas."
UFC officials have yet to confirm Rodriguez's bout or the Sept. 8 event, but that date has been targeted for a UFC Pay-Per-View.
Rodriguez (10-2) hasn't fought since losing to Frankie Edgar at UFC 211 in May of 2017.
