Daniel Rodriguez recently cleared the air around his disappearance from the public eye following his fight with Kevin Holland in July last year. The UFC welterweight contender revealed that Mexican authorities had detained him after discovering he had 27 grams of mar–ana on him during a trip to the country for vacation. As a result, the authorities sent him to a federal prison in Tijuana, where he remained for the next eight months. For most people, time spent behind bars could be the worst phase of their lives. However, ‘D-Rod’s experience turned out to be quite different, as he ended up playing security to a cartel boss who was incarcerated along with him.

“The guards had tried to charge me seven grand, bro, to get me out of that cell and move me into a better place,” Rodriguez told Joe Rogan on the JRE podcast. “The guards came, pulled me out, and brought me to a whole different section, the third floor of the second building. I go up there, and there’s a curtain covering the tier. I get in there, and they bring me to this dude. He’s like, ‘Oh, you’re a UFC fighter.’ It turns out the dude was the head of the cartel.

“He’s like, ‘I want to show you around a little bit and let you know how we’re running things over here.’ This dude had it made. I get there, and there are TVs in the cell. The dude has a PlayStation. So he’s pretty much giving me the rundown. He’s like, ‘Yo, I run it here. This is pretty much our home. But if you want, we can get you accommodated, and you can come up here with us.’ And I’m like, ‘All right.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, but it’s going to cost you a little bit of money.’  I was like, ‘Oh yeah? How much?’ He’s like, ‘Three thousand.’ And I looked at the guard, the guard who was trying to charge me seven. I was like, ‘He said seven.’”

After receiving the offer from the cartel boss, Rodriguez accepted it without much hesitation. However, he soon realized that the two had forged a bond of trust, relying on each other for protection from any trouble inside the prison. 

“Immediately, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ So they gave me a brand-new Nike tracksuit,” he continued. “‘Oh, sh-t, yeah.’ And I’m like, ‘All right.’ He’s like, ‘Well, come up here tomorrow.’ I get there, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, just be my cellmate.’  So I ended up getting the feeling that I was kind of like his protection. When we’d go to the yard, he’d be like, ‘Hey, walk with me.’

“Like, I got this guy’s back. He got my back. I got his. And I really trusted him, you know. That’s one hard thing to do in jail, but you catch vibes off people really easily. Yeah, dude, it was just a crazy-a– experience.”

Judging from the story, it doesn’t sound like Daniel Rodriguez had too bad a time during his stay at the prison in Tijuana. However, most people would not be that fortunate because there was a reason behind the 20-5 MMA fighter receiving better treatment. Surely, the Californian being a professional fighter worked in his favor. But the UFC welterweight’s past ties, along with his parents’ connections to Latin gangs in Alhambra, might have also contributed significantly to the better care he received.

Now, the 39-year-old is finally out of prison life, and he has already taken a significant step towards resuming his UFC career.

Daniel Rodriguez is set to face a dangerous contender in a UFC main event 

For a while, Daniel Rodriguez played the role of a veteran and got to clash with established fighters like Kevin Holland, Santiago Ponzinibbio, and Alex Morono. But this time, a new and dangerous up-and-comer will be heading his way.

On August 1, the UFC will host a Fight Night event in Belgrade, Serbia, headlined by Daniel Rodriguez and Uros Medic. Well, the Californian has been facing top-level contenders himself and is currently on a three-fight winning streak. But this time, Medic will definitely be the kind of threat that could be daunting for him to overcome.

The 33-year-old Serbian had his ups and downs during his initial UFC run. However, he has been looking like a freight train lately, finishing Gilbert Urbina, Muslim Salikhov, and Geoff Neal, all three by first-round knockouts. With that kind of knockout power, one shot from Medic can change the entire landscape of the fight on his home turf.

Still, it has to be admitted that Rodriguez is a seasoned veteran, and it’s expected that his game plan and fight IQ will help him win or at least put up a strong challenge against the rising contender, even though he was away from competition for almost a year.