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Chael Sonnen Says the UFC Had to Release Yair Rodriguez



Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contender Chael Sonnen has come out to support the UFC releasing one of their hottest rising Latino stars in Yair Rodriguez.

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The highly regarded Rodriguez is considered a potential star and was the poster boy for the UFC in the Mexican scene. His contract was controversially terminated for allegedly refusing to fight on two occasions, first with Zabit Magmomedsharipov and then Ricardo Lamas.

Rodriguez (10-2) last fought inside the Octagon at UFC 211 on May 2017, where he lost via TKO to former featherweight champion Frankie Edgar.

Sonnen posted his thoughts on the decision to release Rodriguez in a recent video on his YouTube channel and explained why he feels the UFC had no choice but to release “El Pantera” (via Bloody Elbow):

“I did read a post on something that kids call the ‘Underground Forum,’ and they were saying how that was wrong of Dana White to release him for not wanting to fight. Well, you’re devastatingly wrong about that point. Dana has to do that. He has to make sure (that he’s) maintaining the integrity of his company, (that) the guys are fighting the right guys. This is a UFC policy, and this is explained to all of the guys on the roster from the beginning. You will be called an offer to fight. You can say no to the first fight, but you cannot say no to the second fight. So you play that however you want. You can say no once, you can’t say no twice.”

It’s disappointing for the featherweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” to be cut from the world’s premier MMA organization. The 25 year-old has undoubted talent and is able of producing exciting fights. In his ten wins, he has five knockouts and two submissions. Given his age and ability, he should have no issue finding other suitors for his services.

He was ranked No. 11 in the official UFC featherweight rankings at the time of his departure.
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