Daniel Rodriguez has had a crazy year, and now he gets to return to doing what he loves most when he faces Uros Medic in the main event of UFC Belgrade this Saturday.
“Man, I’m super excited,” Rodriguez told MMA Fighting. “I’m feeling very grateful and fortunate to be here, man. It’s been a long road and I’m excited to fight on Saturday.”
In April, Rodriguez was released from a Mexican jail after being imprisoned for eight months due to an arrest at the border when he was caught in possession of marijuana. “D-Rod” gets a massive opportunity riding a three-fight win streak, including a decision win over Kevin Holland a year ago in a wild battle at UFC 318.
Rodriguez was asked if he had doubts he’d ever fight again while sitting behind bars.
“Yeah, man, 100 percent,” Rodriguez said. “There was a moment in time where I wasn’t sure if I was going to get out and be able to continue my career. They wanted to actually give me a couple years, man, and if that was the case, I knew for sure my career was over.
“It was an emotional roller coaster in there, especially coming off a huge win, the biggest win of my life, and then to be thrown in a jail cell and not knowing, what was going to happen was definitely super stressful. But there was a small part of me that told me like, things were going to work out, and that’s what kept me motivated to train, and to continue to work out and try to do anything possible to stay in shape. I just had faith that I’d be able to do this. And sure enough, and now I’m headlining the UFC event. It’s a dream come true, man.”
The 39-year-old got a late start in the game as he didn’t step into his first MMA gym until he was 25. He parlayed that into a 10-4 record in 14 octagon appearances, which also includes wins over Mike Perry and Kevin Lee, while getting valuable experience along the way.
Rodriguez learned even more about himself while in prison, and now sees things in a much different way.
“I’m a survivor, man,” Rodriguez explained. “I can overcome any situation that you could throw at me. If I could take anything from that experience is just loving life and living a life to its utmost potential. I’m grateful to be here and I’m lucky. Man, I’m lucky.
“I was in there with people that are never getting out, and it made me appreciate my life so much more. And I’m here now, and days away from one of the biggest fights in my life and I come out with the victory this Saturday, and I’m going to start trying to pitch my story to Hollywood, man. They need to make a movie out of this, bro.”
Medic gets the hometown headline spot as he attempts to play spoiler to Rodriguez’s comeback story. “The Doctor” is also riding a three-fight win streak, finishing all of his opponents in the first round. In his most recent outing, Medic destroyed perennial welterweight contender Geoff Neal in just 79 seconds.
Rodriguez has been through much worse than being the away team in a UFC fight, which is why he believes getting his hand raised will be as memorable a moment as he’s ever experienced.
“When I get my hand raised, I don’t really know how I’m going to feel,” Rodriguez said. “I’m just going to know that I’ve been through a lot this past year, and it’s been ups and downs. And to go out there and get my hand raised on Saturday, man, it’s definitely going to be like my greatest victory ever. Just for the fact that I came back, and the feeling that I have right now, it’s a great feeling.
“Because when I first got out of jail, I was struggling, man. It was so hard to get back into shape and I just trusted all the hard work that was ahead of me and I knew that I was going to be able to get back in shape. And sure enough, man, I just bit down on my mouthguard, man and just trusted the process and getting my hand raised on Saturday is going to make it all come together, man.
“This whole process, it’s been a battle, man. And I’m grateful to be here and I can’t wait to go out there on Saturday and just put my heart out on the line again, man.”
