Dana White: "we have no use for him (Yair Rodriguez)", but is it True?

Late last night (May 10th, 2018), Dana White announced that the UFC and Yair Rodriguez are finished in terms of business. White told the Los Angeles Times: “The guy’s off a year, rejects a fight with Lamas and then doesn’t want to fight a guy below him in the rankings?” White said. “He can go somewhere else. We have no use for him. He calls that fight fake news. This is real news.”

The “This is real news” was quoted from White’s Twitter page, as a indirect response to Yair’s previous Twitter posting: “#FakeNews”.

#FakeNews

— Yair Rodriguez (@panteraufc) May 9, 2018

Rodriguez, 10-2 in his professional MMA career is a promising prospect, and prior to losing a doctor stoppage TKO to Frankie Edgar, he was on his way to the top of the Featherweight division. In the beginning and throughout his seven octagon appearances, White saw a champion on the rise.

So why the cold shoulder? Yes, we understand Yair has now turned down two fights and taken to social media, in which to some, shows he’s controlling who he fights, and not so much the matchmakers at the UFC. We see fights within the UFC get turned down occasionally, and in most cases, it doesn’t end in a rising star being released from the promotion. More recently, it’s been made aware that for the past two years, Dana White and his team have offered multiple fights to both Nick and Nate Diaz, and as we sit here today (May 11th, 2018), there’s still only rumors of their returns.

White said, and again, in quotes: “We have no use for him”. But is this true?

Some fighters are more difficult than others, especially in the fight business, but more often than none, both sides come to some form of agreement. We saw the social media postings, what White said and that the UFC is terminating Yair’s contract. There must have been more that led to his complete termination from the company, or simply put, is that all?

Rodriguez is the TUF: Latin America winner, owner of two fight of the night bonuses, as well as two performances of the night. Every time Yair stepped foot in the octagon fans were excited, and no doubt their Mexican fan base grew in size.

It’s a shame to see how things have ended for Yair and his path in the UFC, but we can soon expect to see him in action, as it’s reported multiple organizations have shown interest in the ‘El Pantera’ Rodriguez.

All and all, Rodriguez did and does certainly have talent to offer combats top promotion, but it seems as though he’ll have to look else where to display his capabilities following this surprising news.

Yair hasn’t fought since his May 2017 loss to Edgar due to injury. While we hope for a soon date, Rodriguez’ next fight is anybody’s guess.