The Yair Rodriguez vs. UFC saga has taken a sudden, unexpected twist that has brought us full circle from fake news turned real news, and, as reported today, back to the original news, with Yair Rodriguez reportedly back in the UFC fold and slated to face Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC 228. The news was reported Friday morning by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto via Twitter:
BREAKING: The Yair Rodriguez/UFC situation has apparently done a 180. Rodriguez vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov is now verbally agreed to for UFC 228 in September.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 1, 2018
In what was easily one of the biggest news story of the year, Rodriguez was originally released for turning down fights with both Ricardo Lamas and Zabit Magomedsharipov. Both Rodriguez and Dana White have said their piece on the matter, with White recently warning fighters at the UFC Liverpool post-fight press conference last week that taking a similar route to Yair Rodriguez would lead to grave consequences:
“When I call you and offer you a fight, you should probably take it. You should probably take it. I make 42 fights a year. And if you don’t want to fight, and if you want to be picky and choosy, and you don’t want to do this and you don’t want to do that, then you probably need to go somewhere else. And I’ll help you get there.”
It would only be speculation as to what may have changed and how the two sides were able to reconcile. The intimate details of negotiations of this magnitude are rarely made public, especially when one party likely would have had to swallow more pride than most can handle in one sitting to seal the deal. So all that is left to do now is to await official word from the promotion that both sides have kissed and made up and that the fight is, indisputably, real news.
Keep it locked in to mmanews.com as this shocking story develops.
Would a Yair Rodrguez/UFC reunion be a win for all parties?
