UFC stalwart Kelvin Gastelum would seek to right the wrongs from his last fight as he heads to the Middle East for the first time under the UFC banner. Butting heads against Daniel Rodriguez this weekend, it will surely be a great matchup between the two. Although Gastelum’s been in the limelight for competing against fighters like Israel Adesanya, not much is known about Rodriguez, and that’s what we’ll focus on ahead of UFC on ABC 6.

Daniel Rodriguez turned into a professional MMA back in 2015, when he was around 27 years old. Since then, the welterweight fighter has fought in over 21 fights in an MMA cage. But in how many of them did he lose in the UFC? Well, that’s what we’re gonna start with when it comes to Rodriguez’s record.

Back-to-back losses for Daniel Rodriguez

Going by the nickname, ‘D-Rod’, Daniel Rodriguez has amassed a pretty impressive record for himself in the UFC and is certainly among the top welterweight contenders. Meanwhile, he’s lost only three times in the 11 times he’s fought under Dana White‘s promotion’s banner. Rodriguez’s first loss came at the hands of Nicolas Dalby, who has a 23-4-1 record.

The ‘Danish Dynamite’ defeated Daniel Rodriguez with a unanimous decision at UFC 255 in a fairly competitive fight. Then, the 37-year-old’s second UFC defeat came almost two years ago, when Neil Magny submitted him with the D’Arce choke in a 3-round fight. The third and final loss may be the one that might have stung ‘D-Rod’ the most because he got knocked out.

Yes, Daniel Rodriguez took on up-and-coming star Ian Garry, who’s undefeated, in May 2023. The fight ran for almost three minutes and ‘The Future’ shut the veteran’s lights out with a head kick, followed by a flurry of punches. But let’s not forget that we have already mentioned that he does have an impressive resume and hence, let’s take a look at his wins.

Other MMA defeats, winning streak, and overall record of ‘D-Rod’

First of all, Daniel Rodriguez has amassed a record of 17 wins and 4 losses in the nine years that he’s been a pro. Before coming to the UFC, the Alhambra native had lost only one fight on the regional scene against a fighter named Victor Reyna. But before that, Rodriguez had a 4-fight winning streak. Then after his first loss, the 37-year-old would go on a 9-fight winning streak. While three out of those nine wins took place in the UFC, one took place in Dana White’s Contender Series.

Then again, he’s currently on a two-fight losing skid, but before that, Daniel Rodriguez had another run of four consecutive wins. That tells us enough of the story of ‘D-Rod’. His record shows that he is a top-tier fighter, capable of taking on all comers. But can he replicate his previous success this weekend? Well, that’s going to get uncovered this weekend in Saudi Arabia.

What do you think about Daniel Rodriguez’s MMA record? Do you think he can beat Kelvin Gastelum? Drop your comments below.