Has UFC welterweight Daniel Rodriguez ever been to prison?
UFC welterweight Daniel Rodriguez put up an excellent striking show to get the better of Kevin Lee at UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Chikadze on Saturday, August 28, 2021.
However, before he made his way into the world of combat sports, Daniel Rodriguez led a pretty tough life, spending a lot of his days behind bars.
Daniel Rodriguez stepped on short notice to replace Kevin Lee's original opponent Sean Brady, who had to withdraw due to a foot infection. Despite that, 'D-Rod' picked up a unanimous decision win with a 29-28 score across the judges' bench.
This was the third consecutive win for the Dana White's Contender Series alum and sixth win in the UFC overall.
In a brief TMZ interview following his decision win over Mike Perry at UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Holland in April, Daniel Rodriguez revealed that he had grown up as a "hood baby" and had been in more than two hundred unsanctioned fights, including brawls that broke out inside the prison. He claimed his record was 200-0 in jail and street fights, and no one has ever beaten him outside the octagon.
"That's how this all started. It all started in the street, in the hood. I'm a hood baby, I'm from L.A... Man, I've been in 200 (street fights) at least, if you count all the jail fights and sh*t too," Daniel Rodriguez said.
When asked if a cage fight was scarier or a jail fight, Rodriguez pointed out that there are no rules and no referees to stop the latter.
"There's a referee in there. There's somebody to stop. I have been in situations where there's nobody to stop."
Daniel Rodriguez credits MMA for changing his life
When asked about the shocking 200-0 figures that he mentioned in the TMZ interview, Daniel Rodriguez told the UFC how he grew up within the jail system.
"That's the background. That's what a lot of people don't know about me. I grew up kinda in the jail system and in the hood. They can pull my resume and it's not really something I'm proud of, but that's where I come from. I've been in and out of jail almost all my life up until I started getting real serious about MMA. I never played sports growing up. I just worked out and got in fights in jail and on the streets."
Daniel Rodriguez revealed that he tried to get away from prison life after he had children and started working regular jobs, including applying to the military. But his criminal background made it difficult for him to qualify for said opportunities. However, he was accepted with open arms in his gym, which eventually led to him pursuing MMA.