Right when it seemed the Yair Rodriguez/UFC saga had come to an amicable and happy resolution, it now seems that the climax of this story will actually take place today.
In an appearance on UFC Unfiltered Tuesday, Dana White revealed that he will be meeting with Yair Rodriguez today to speak directly with him, as White claims it was Sean Shelby who was dealing with Rodriguez throughout this ordeal:
“I don’t know the true story. I don’t know what happened. I have a meeting with him today. So he and I are meeting today, and I’m sure I’ll get the full story. Sean Shelby was dealing with him.”
White may have been harsh (and public) with his stance on Yair Rodriguez when he made the decision to release the 25-year-old upstart, but he insists that none of his decisions were personal:
“He’s a guy that I like very much personally. He’s a very nice kid. He’s a kid that we brought in, we spent money on.”
But White’s tone on one topic has remained consistent over the past week: if you don’t want to take the fights offered and compete to try to be the best in the world, the UFC is not the place for you:
“Listen, man, I get into these things where, this is the fight business. And the UFC is the elite of the elite in mixed martial arts. And you get into these situations where you get these guys that don’t want to fight certain people. And if you don’t want to fight certain people, this probably isn’t the place for you. I’m looking for people that want to be world champions, that want to fuckin’ fight the best in the world. And if you’re not that guy, then there’s plenty of other places where you can go make money. This place isn’t for you.
“And that is what I’ve run into with a few guys. And you’re going to see more of it. There’s more coming today. I’m not fuckin’ around anymore here. If you don’t want to fight, then don’t sign here. If you want to handpick fights, don’t sign a contract here. This isn’t the right place for you.”
White’s statement that “you’re going to see more of it,” gives the impression that there may be more releases coming soon to reverberate the message he sent with the original release of Yair Rodriguez. White feels that this is a message that must be transmitted because unlike the days of yore, the handpicking of fights has become an epidemic:
“Very, very rare did this happen back in the old days. The guys came out and fought whoever they had to fight next and that was the way it went. These new guys, these guys come out and want to handpick fights and do this stuff, that’s not going to work for you here.”
Analysis: This is a very interesting development. From what we can glean from the information before us, it sounds as though Yair Rodriguez and Sean Shelby could not come to terms on neither the Ricardo Lamas nor the Zabit Magomedsharipov fights. And once Dana White got wind of this, he decided to release Yair Rodriguez to send a message to other fighters that such behavior is unacceptable or, if you’re a skeptic, as an elaborate negotiation tactic to pressure Rodriguez to finally accept the fight. Rodriguez and Shelby then were able to sit down and patch things up, but since Shelby is only a matchmaker, it is now up to White to make the final determination on if Rodriguez will be welcomed back.
It is possible that Shelby gave Rodriguez assurances that his UFC return is only a formality, and Rodriguez decided to announce the happy news to the world. It is also possible that Yair Rodriguez is spreading the news of his impending UFC return as a posturing maneuver to persuade White and the powers that be to officially take him back. As of Tuesday morning, it certainly appears as though Yair Rodriguez is not yet back with the promotion. However, with Rodriguez now being willing to fight Zabit Magomedsharipov, and Dana White being willing to meet with him so soon after the falling out, Rodriguez’s does indeed seem to be a formality.
Do you prefer the old days where fighters were open to more matchups? Or do you side with fighters of today who exercise their right to choose whom they want to fight?
