{"id":854940,"date":"2025-06-11T19:12:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T00:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/11\/dana-white-made-a-brutal-remark-about-yair-rodriguez-after-releasing-him-for-rejecting-fights\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T19:12:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T00:12:52","slug":"dana-white-made-a-brutal-remark-about-yair-rodriguez-after-releasing-him-for-rejecting-fights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/11\/dana-white-made-a-brutal-remark-about-yair-rodriguez-after-releasing-him-for-rejecting-fights\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White made a brutal remark about Yair Rodriguez after releasing him for rejecting fights"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<article id=\"post-204039\">\n<p><strong>Yair Rodriguez is seemingly in the good graces of Dana White and the UFC now, but things weren\u2019t always that way.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/tag\/yair-rodriguez\/\">Rodriguez<\/a> is currently a major topic in the mixed martial arts space amid talk of a potentially controversial shot at the featherweight title, which <a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/2025\/04\/13\/alexander-volkanovski-vs-diego-lopes-ufc-314-result-vintage-volk-on-display-as-new-champion-is-crowned-in-miami\/\">Alexander Volkanovski won by beating Diego Lopes<\/a> at UFC 314.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>The Mexican has competed in two title fights in recent years. Before losing to Volkanovski in their unification bout at UFC 290, <a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/2023\/02\/12\/ufc-284-highlight-videos-yair-rodriguez-submits-josh-emmett-triangle-wins-interim-title-mma-news\/\">Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett<\/a> to win the interim belt.<\/p>\n<p>But just a few years prior, \u2018El Pantera\u2019 looked like he may never compete in the UFC again, let alone for a championship.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><svg width=\"20\" height=\"20\"><use href=\"http:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/#list-arrow-svg\" \/><\/svg><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/2025\/05\/24\/ilia-topuria-is-told-that-one-key-mistake-may-have-already-ruined-his-three-weight-ufc-title-hopes\/\">Ilia Topuria is told that one key mistake may have already ruined his three-weight UFC title hopes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rise of Yair Rodriguez\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GMQutDG1TtY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Dana White told Yair Rodriguez the UFC \u2018isn\u2019t the place\u2019 for him after brief release<\/h2>\n<p>The former interim champion\u2019s tenure on MMA\u2019s biggest stage hasn\u2019t always been smooth, and <a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/2025\/04\/07\/yair-rodriguez-briefly-lost-ufc-job-following-first-loss-to-hall-of-famer\/\">Rodriguez was even once released from the UFC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Mexican was cut in mid-2018 after allegedly turning down numerous fight offers after recovering from an injury, including one against the then-highly touted Zabit Magomedsharipov.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/tag\/dana-white\/\">White<\/a> expanded on the shock move during his post-fight press conference backstage at the UFC Fight Night in Liverpool.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe offered him fights, he turned down the fights,\u201d White said. \u201cThere was a lot more back and forth that went on with that. If you don\u2019t want to\u00a0fight,\u00a0this isn\u2019t the place to be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of places out there that will take Yair Rodriguez and would love to have him, and would sign him and I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll have a great career.\u00a0This isn\u2019t the place for you,\u201d White added.<\/p>\n<p>After only a few weeks in free agency, bridges were mended and Rodriguez found himself back under the UFC banner.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><svg width=\"20\" height=\"20\"><use href=\"http:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/#list-arrow-svg\" \/><\/svg><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/2025\/05\/24\/dricus-du-plessis-and-khamzat-chimaev-snubbed-as-pfl-star-is-named-the-best-middleweight-in-the-world\/\">Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev snubbed as PFL star is named the \u2018best middleweight in the world\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"UFC Fight Night Liverpool: Post-fight Press Conference\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C87D3BwReNI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Yair Rodriguez now looks set to benefit from Dana White\u2019s issues with another fighter<\/h2>\n<p>Fast forward a few years and Rodriguez remains high up the featherweight pecking order at No. 4.<\/p>\n<p>The 32-year-old has been on a journey back towards the title after losing convincingly to Volkanovski in 2023. And despite only winning one of his two fights since, Rodriguez may already have a chance at redemption coming up.<\/p>\n<p>After Volkanovski\u2019s return to the throne, many were expecting the Australian to get his wish next. <a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/2025\/05\/23\/alexander-volkanovski-denied-desired-ufc-title-defense-as-undefeated-contender-accepts-different-fight\/\">Volkanovski\u2019s preference is Movsar Evloev<\/a>, an undefeated contender who has won nine straight in the UFC.<\/p>\n<p>But despite the Russian\u2019s strong claim, it would appear that his fighting style and lack of finishes in the UFC could pave the way for Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez 2.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Greatest of All-Time? ???? Alexander Volkanovski v Yair Rodriguez | #UFC290 Fight Highlights\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Pej7JzuKyvg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Evloev recently took to X to reveal that he\u2019s accepted a different fight for UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26. That has sparked rumors of a title shot for Rodriguez, which is widely being branded as undeserved.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> Harvey Leonard<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/2025\/05\/24\/dana-white-made-a-brutal-remark-about-yair-rodriguez-after-releasing-him-for-rejecting-fights\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yair Rodriguez is seemingly in the good graces of Dana White and the UFC now, but things weren\u2019t always that way. Rodriguez is currently a major topic in the mixed martial arts space amid talk of a potentially controversial shot at the featherweight title, which Alexander Volkanovski won by beating Diego Lopes at UFC 314.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":854941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26952,9],"tags":[6419,5064],"class_list":{"0":"post-854940","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brutal","8":"category-white","9":"tag-brutal","10":"tag-white"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}