The release of Yair Rodriguez from the UFC turned out to be a huge shocker for the fans. Despite having a 6-1 record in the promotion, Yair was relieved from his contract much to the surprise of the MMA community.
Apparently, Yair’s refusal to fight the opponents offered by the promotion is one of the major reasons for the release and former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen backed up this claim in his new vlog.
Sonnen opened up about how UFC matchmaking works and said that refusing two back to back fights is a move that should be avoided by the fighters.
“Dana [White] has to do that. He has to make sure, maintaining the integrity of his company, that guys are fighting the right guys. I want to explain to you how this works, because I don’t think anybody ever has. Now, this is the UFC policy. This is not a law of any kind, but this is a policy that is explained to all of the guys on the roster from the beginning. You will be called [with] 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. [Former UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva put that in place I don’t even know how long ago… a decade? A decade would be a fair guess by me, if not longer,” Sonnen said. (via CrisCyborg.com)
The Yair Rodriguez case
The Bellator star then went on to address the issue with Yair Rodriguez as well.
“You’re second opponent isn’t an offer, that’s who you’re fighting or you’re eligible for release. Even though we haven’t seen it before, you’re now eligible for release. In Yair’s case, when he turns two guys down, well yeah, of course you release him. There’s nothing else you can do,” he added.
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