Daniel
Rodriguez may have paid the price for agreeing to face Kelvin
Gastelum at 185 pounds, but it wasn’t all bad news for the
37-year-old Californian.
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Rodriguez and Gastelum were initially supposed to square off at
welterweight at
UFC on ABC 6, but terms of the bout were altered when Gastelum
arrived in Saudi Arabia for fight week overweight and requested the
fight take place at middleweight. Rodriguez elected to go forward
with the matchup and lost a unanimous decision on Saturday at
Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, “D-Rod” did reap
some rewards as a result of competing at a heavier weight class
than initially expected.
“All right, y’all. I’m done complaining about the fight. F—k it. It
happened,” Rodriguez said in a video on his Instagram stories. “I
knew the risk. With the risk, came great rewards. I lost the fight
but I gained so much more in return: a ton a respect from the fight
community, a nice raise, six-fight contract, 30 percent of his
f—ing [purse].
“I can’t even be mad. Yeah, I wanted the win but I want so much
more in the end. I knew the risk. I took it, put on a hell of a
show. The fans love me. I love y’all. My kids are proud. My family
is proud. I lost but I won. F—k it. I can’t wait to get home from
the airport and love life baby. Let’s go.”
While Rodriguez has lost three straight in the Octagon, Gastelum is
the one who was subject to some post-fight criticism from UFC CEO
Dana White.
“I’m not thrilled with Kelvin
Gastelum right now,” White said at Saturday’s post-fight press
conference. “The guy’s missed weight like three times in his
career.”
According to White, Gastelum’s issues look even worse considering
there were multiple fighters who accepted bouts on short notice at
UFC Saudi Arabia and still hit their contracted marks.
“You got kids taking fights on a week’s notice, jumping on cards,
coming over here and making weight and Kelvin doesn’t make weight,”
White said. “It’s extremely disappointing.”