âD-Rodâ is back â and heâs got a story to tell.
No. 14-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Daniel Rodriguez had been completely off the radar for the past eight months.
No fights. No interviews. No social media.
Nothing.
Rumors swirled â everything from legal trouble to traveling abroad â but there were no answers⌠until now.
Today, Rodriguez revealed that he had been incarcerated in a prison in Tijuana, Mexico, for the past eight months.
â8 months in a cage in Tijuana, Mexico, never killed my spirit, I did everything possible to stay on point and ready for my return to the UFC octagon, expect a hungrier, more focused version of myself,â Rodriguez wrote on Instagram. âThey tried to take it all away, now itâs time for me to come back and show you all the monster prison created. Thank you to the legal and management team, family, and real friends for helping me be a free man today.â
At this time, the details surrounding his arrest have not been disclosed.
But one thing is clear:
He didnât stop working.
Rodriguez shared footage of himself training while behind bars, showing that even in confinement, he stayed locked in on fighting.
The 39-year-old was last seen in action against Kevin Holland at UFC 318, where the pair delivered an all-action war that many felt deserved âFight of the Nightâ honors.
Rodriguez is currently riding a three-fight win streak, with additional victories over Santiago Ponzinibbio (watch highlights) and Alex Morono.
Now a free manâŚ
Expect âD-Rodâ back in the Octagon sooner rather than later.
What did he do, get in a fight?
8 months in a Tijuana jail? Never saw that coming. Guess you canât judge a book by its cover.
Kept hearing people say this was the rumor on Podcasts but nobody believed it. Crazy it was actually true.