Despite suffering a third consecutive defeat at UFC Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, Daniel Rodriguez still feels like a winner.
The New York native was forced to move up an entire weight class on a few days notice when it became clear that Kelvin Gastelum was not going to be able to make the welterweight limit for their featured bout. But he powered through, with the result ultimately going against him.
However, Rodriguez feels that he actually came out something of a winner from the situation, telling fans that the outside of the cage factors saw him benefit despite the result. He is now without a win since September of 2022, but will get plenty of opportunities with a new multi-fight deal.
Daniel Rodriguez loses to Kelvin Gastelum after rival shows up 14.5lb over welterweight limit
From the opening bell, and in fact even before that, Daniel Rodriguez was fighting an uphill battle against Gastelum at UFC Saudi Arabia. The former middleweight title contender was already one of his toughest tests on paper, before issues with the scales emerged.
During fight week, with Rodriguez already within 8lb of making the non-title welterweight limit of 171lb, he was informed that his rival was struggling to make the weight. They eventually agreed to move up to middleweight, meaning that he had to put pounds back on in order to tip the scales.
That extra weight was clear during the fight as Gastelum was able to ride a number of massive shots over the three rounds. He also never tired and was able to land vital takedowns on route to a decision victory.
Daniel Rodriguez details how Kelvin Gastelum loss landed him new UFC deal and pay rise
Speaking with fans on Instagram after the fact, Rodriguez noted that he felt like he had truly won the night due to a number of factors. He was signed to a new multi-fight UFC deal despite losing three in a row, with a pay rise included on top of his 30 per cent of Gastelum’s purse.
In an initial story post, he said: “S*** didn’t really go my way, it’s the fight game that s*** happens. I mean, I took the risk, there was no way I was going to come all the way out here and not fight. I guarantee if that fight was at 170lb he wouldn’t have had the energy to take me down.
“He wouldn’t have been as strong and he wouldn’t have been able to take most of my punches. I thugged it out, kept it a G and repped the city. I can’t wait to come home, shout out to all the fans, y’all some real ones.
“To my family and my kids, I can’t wait to come home, I miss you guys. I’m going to bounce back, you know, f*** it.”
But in a later post which he captioned “I lost but won at the same time”, he detailed how there were actually a number of victories to come from his outing. Most notably, he earned a new six-fight deal for more money than his current one, and was paid 30 per cent of Gastelum’s likely hefty purse.
“I’m done complaining about the fight, f*** it, it happened,” he declared. “I knew the risk, with the risk came great rewards; I lost the fight but I gained so much more in return. A ton of respect from the fight community, a nice raise, a six-fight contract and 30 per cent of his f***ing [purse].
“You know, I can’t even be mad. Yeah I wanted to win but I won so much more in the end. I knew the risk, I took it, put on a hell of a show, fans love me and I love y’all. My kids are proud, my family’s proud so I lost but I won.”
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