Daniel Rodriguez is ready to resume his career after spending
eight months in Mexican jail. | Getty/UFC
UFC welterweight Daniel
Rodriguez paid dearly for attempting to take marijuana into
Mexico.
Shortly after defeating Kevin
Holland at
UFC 318 last July, Rodriguez planned a vacation to Rosarito,
Mexico, to celebrate his victory. However, “D-Rod” was arrested at
the U.S.-Mexico border for possession of weed, and he ended up
spending the past eight months in Mexican prison. The 39-year-old
Californian was finally released last week. During an appearance on
“The Ariel Helwani Show,” Rodriguez detailed his
experience.
“This is my first time in Mexican jail and I can tell you one thing
for sure, it’s the worst possible situation,” Rodriguez said.
“Fortunately, I was able to make the best of it. I was able to pull
a couple of strings and get a little bit of workout equipment there
and I was able to work out and try and stay in shape, but it’s not
the same. We only went to yard twice a week and those days were the
only days I would get to run. I spent the whole time running, I
probably looked like a crazy ass dude out there just running laps
and laps and laps and laps, but it was only twice a week.
“I think the worst part about the whole thing was the food. I felt
a little bit unhealthy, a little malnourished. I think that was the
toughest part, is the nutrition. I was coming off that big fight
and my body was healthy and the best shape ever, and then to be
thrown and locked in a jail cell and just put in one spot and just
getting the bare minimum food to eat, it was terrible.”
Of course, Rodriguez didn’t expect to be behind bars for as long as
he was.
“The whole judicial system in Mexico is a different world,”
Rodriguez said. “They didn’t have a sense of urgency to move my
case forward. It took so long, man. There were so many ups and
downs. I went to a few court days. I thought I was getting out, and
I didn’t end up getting out. Honestly, I was looking at probably
getting out until late June or July. Luckily, I got an amazing
legal team, and we were able to work some things out, but there’s a
whole bunch of requirements and stuff behind it I have to stick
to.”
Rodriguez revealed that he had “friends in high places” and didn’t
encounter any serious trouble while doing time. It didn’t hurt that
he was recognized for his exploits in the UFC. Still, even with
favored status, the experience was different than spending time in
jail in the U.S.
VIP Status?
“My first court date, one of the guards recognized me and started
asking me for pictures,” Rodriguez said. “I’m like, ‘What the
hell?’ So all the guards are right there taking pictures. Some of
the inmates saw that and one inmate asked, ‘What’s up with you?’
and this and that. I didn’t really want to say anything. In a
situation like that, you want to keep the lowest profile, because
me being who I am, it’s kind of like a target on my back. People
are going to want to test you, you never know. So I was just
wanting to keep a low profile.
“…Over there it’s not like out here. I’ve been in jail over here
where there’s like the L.A. county jail, where it’s not ‘prison’
prison. But over there, they throw you straight in, it’s straight
into prison and my first, like, 12 days there I was in a six-man
cell with, like, 25 people in there. Dudes sleeping on the floor,
two men per bunk, and I couldn’t even sleep. It was just disgusting
in there, it’s horrible. The most horrible situation you can think
of. Fortunately, word got around that I was in there and I got shot
up to the VIP section, so I was fortunate enough to get some love.
Yeah, they did show me a lot of love, in the back of my mind I kind
of had a sense like, I think this guy’s using me as protection. I’m
kind of like his bodyguard or some shit, but I just ran with
it.”
Rodriguez will return to the UFC with a three-fight winning streak
that includes victories over Holland, Santiago
Ponzinibbio and Alex Morono.
Now that he’s a free man again, Rodriguez wants to keep the
momentum going.
“I really want to shoot for the stars, man,” Rodriguez said. “I
want to take this to the highest level possible, and I’m looking at
a possible matchup with Leon
Edwards. I think ideally in a solid three months I’ll be
ready.”