UFC Vegas 98 was a night of tightly contested affairs with four of the five main card fights ending via the judges’ scorecards – three of which were razor-close split decisions.
By hook or by crook, a win’s a win; and one athlete who was particularly delighted to find himself back in that column was Daniel ‘D-Rod’ Rodriguez, who followed up his victory by hinting that the UFC could be about to make its long-awaited return to Los Angeles.
Daniel Rodriguez halts three-fight skid with close decision win at UFC Vegas 98
Popular welterweight veteran Daniel Rodriguez was able to put a halt to his recent three-fight losing streak last night with a hard-fought, but still highly impressive, win over Alex Morono.
“The fight game is a very unforgiving sport, before those losses I was #13 in the world and even after one of those losses I was still #14,” a relieved Rodriguez told reporters at the post-fight press conference.
“You know, people will write you off but the good thing about MMA is that it’s not like boxing [where] if you take three losses in boxing, they’re like ‘You’re done’… But in MMA, even though I lost my last fight, I still feel like I gained more fan recognition.
“Sometimes in MMA, you can lose but still win at the same time,” acknowledged ‘D-Rod’, who was quick to point out that the clock is ticking for him to make the most of what is now his eighth win in the promotion.
“I’m a veteran in the UFC now and I just want to keep fighting, I want to fight the most, I’m getting a bit older in the game, and I just want to fight and make money.”
Daniel Rodriguez inadvertently leaks upcoming UFC return to Los Angeles
Despite getting his hand raised in a razor-close split decision at UFC Vegas 98, Daniel Rodriguez would refuse to call out any one specific welterweight for his next bout: “I don’t care, they know that I don’t say no [to anyone].”
Yet ‘D-Rod’ did demand one thing of the promotion; first teasing to Karyn Bryant that he hopes the UFC offers him a fight for early 2025 when they return to the ‘City of Angels’, LA.
“Man, hey the Dodgers won yesterday, and I won today – I heard the UFC is coming to LA in January… If so, you’ve got to put me on the card, that’s my hometown, I just got the win and I think I deserve it – let’s go.”
At the post-fight press conference, Rodriguez would double down on his ‘leak’ that the promotion could be set to announce a return to LA in the coming months; and that he’d love to be part of that card.
“So, I heard that the UFC is coming to Los Angeles in January [2025] and me being an LA-hometown boy I feel like it’s only right that they put me on the card. So please, UFC, put me on in LA!”
Whilst it should be noted that the UFC hasn’t officially confirmed that there’ll be a show held in Los Angeles in early 2025, it’s also not the first time that a top UFC fighter has inadvertently hinted that the promotion will soon be returning to ‘The City of Angels’.
In fact, only two weeks ago, 18-0 bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov would also suggest that a UFC: Los Angeles event was in the works when he called out Merab Dvalishvili on X.
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“Hey Merab, you know that Ramadan is in March and knowing this you insist on March, in February the tournament will be held in Australia, and they won’t put us there… There is a tournament in Los Angeles in January – let’s fight there, and there is enough time to prepare.”
Should the promotion return to the iconic city in early 2025, it’d be just the sixth time that the UFC has hosted an event out in LA – and the first in over six years.
- UFC 227: Dillashaw vs Garbrandt 2 – August 2018
- UFC 184: Rousey vs Zingano – February 2015
- UFC on Fox: Shogun vs Vera – August 2012
- UFC 104: Machida vs Shogun – October 2009
- UFC 60: Hughes vs Gracie – May 2006
The UFC 176 rematch between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendez was also meant to be hosted in LA back in 2014; however, that event was canceled due to Aldo suffering an injury in training.
With last night’s win in Las Vegas, Rodriguez sees his professional record improve to 18-5.
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