'I can't believe I'm here': Out of jail and into the cage, Daniel Rodriguez finds his pinch-me moment at UFC Belgrade

Generally speaking, when a fighter says they’re in the best shape of their lives before a fight, there’s an urge to take a big swig of the old giggle water, because there’s scarcely been a fighter in world history who wasn’t.

>Yet when Daniel Rodriguez says he notices he’s been working harder than usual, almost as an outside observer to himself with a new lease on reason, you tend to listen. That’s because until April, Rodriguez was in a Tijuana jail cell, where he’d spent the last eight months on a marijuana possession rap, far longer than a borderline bogus charge should warrant. He was able to hit some pads and do some “roadwork” in the yard, and even had a heavy bag at his disposal, but there was nary a nutritionist on site, nor were his coaches there to guide him, or a sauna, a ring, or really any of the creature comforts of a training facility.

>Since April he’s been working like a madman splitting time in Las Vegas and Los Angeles to catch his body up to the task of fighting Uros Medic this Saturday at UFC Belgrade in Serbia, yet it’s doubtful Rodriguez is in the best physical shape of his life at 39.

>But so what? He has never felt freer than he is right now in Belgrade, walking straight into the wheelhouse of the country’s free-swinging assassin.

>“You know what?” Rodriguez says, “I think I've handled it pretty well, man. I've handled this like a true professional. From the condition that I was in when I was released to where I'm at now and all the preparation and the whole fight camp and everything in between from then till now, the ups and downs, it's been a roller-coaster.

>“And I think me being here is a true testament of being able to come back from some of the toughest situations or showing it's never too late to come back.”

Daniel Rodriguez was riding high on a three-fight UFC win streak prior to his incarceration.Cooper Neill via Getty ImagesIt’s been a year since “D-Rod,” as Rodriguez is known to fans both on the inside and out, last fought. He beat Kevin Holland on the scorecards during Dustin Poirier’s swan-song pay-per-view in July 2025 in New Orleans. With that victory, he’s officially won three straight dating back to a hard-fought split-decision over Alex Morono back in 2024.

>By UFC standards in a tough welterweight division, that’s pretty good, especially given his age. But as he steps foot into Serbia to face Medic, a fighter who hails from Novi Sad just 60 miles from Belgrade, it’s going to be as the enemy of the people. Medic, a diabolical feast-or-famine finisher who has largely been unsung in the UFC, is getting his big showcase homecoming moment. Dude has never heard the scorecards being read, and he doesn’t want to start that trend in front of his countrymen.

>If you’ve seen the videos of Nikola Jokic playing basketball in Serbia, you’ve seen just how wild things can get there. Especially when it comes to celebrating one of their own.

>“I looked into the atmosphere and the crowd in Serbia, and they're definitely crazy,” Rodriguez says. “I’m expecting this crazy energy. I mean, initially my management didn't want to take this fight, but I just let them know, I was like, ‘You know what? I don't give a f*** who it is, bro. I’m a fighter. I got my freedom, and I want to just do this s***. I want to just live in the moment, bro.’

>

>“And that's exactly what I'm doing now, man. It's just been a crazy experience. I'm all the way up in here in Serbia as it's wild, headlining the UFC fight. And even prior to this last little jail stint, everything else prior to that, it's a crazy story. I can't believe I'm here, man.”

>It will be a crazy scene, and it is a crazy story.

>The UFC has traditionally been a willing platform for second chances, twilight reigns, fighter reinventions and triumphant underdog tales, of which Rodriguez checks a great many boxes. Boxing, too — it’s not apples to apples, but Bernard Hopkins used his jail time to become one of the best middleweights of all time, and when Mike Tyson emerged after three years in prison, he began his second act by beating Peter McNeeley in 89 seconds.

>Rodriguez’s latest offense wasn’t nearly as severe as those cases (armed robbery and rape are a little different than getting caught with some pot), but that didn’t take the sting out of spending eight months of his gloaming behind bars. Not that he expects a late title push, even as a ranked fighter, but that there’s even a remote possibility he could make that run late is a quiet motivator.

>After all, he grew up not too far from Hollywood, where stranger things have happened.

>“I mean, I win this fight and then hopefully that Leon Edwards fight happens, I win that fight … next thing you know, I'm fighting a top-five guy,” he says.

>“I’m really that close. I believe in myself and my abilities. And I just tell myself, you know what? Why not, bro? Why not me? You hear the stories all the time of people coming from the worst situations and from horrible upbringings and comeback stories and like that. Why not me? You know what I mean? Why can't I be one of those stories of someone who overcomes the worst situations possible and comes out a victory on champion?”

Uros Medic of Serbia and Daniel Rodriguez of the U.S. face off ahead of UFC Belgrade.Jeff Bottari via Getty ImagesIf anything, Rodriguez is a “young 39,” at least in the fight game. He didn’t start his journey into MMA until he was 25 years old, back in 2012. He didn’t have his first fight until he was 27 years old, an age that many rock stars find their end. His first pro fight came at 29, and he didn’t arrive into the UFC until he was 33. To put that into perspective, Max Holloway is currently 34, and he’s had that exact number of fights in the UFC.

>When Rodriguez thinks back to where he came from — being brought up in Los Angeles, getting into trouble on a loop, doing stints in jail, including his most recent incarceration in Mexico — it’s a pinch-me moment to arrive at his first main event.

>Even if he is going into enemy territory as a 3-to-1 underdog.

>“To be honest with you, man, when I was younger all I cared about was being in the hood, gang banging, being with my friends, out running wild and doing stupid s***,” he says. “It’s a crazy story, man, and the story's not over. I feel like there's still a lot more to accomplish in the sport. I have a lot more fight left in me. Even though I'm 39 years old, I'm working my ass off all the time and I'm staying true and I'm killing it. So why not?

>“Let's take this dangerous fight. Let's go into enemy territory. Let's upset these motherf***ers.”

>Ah yes, the words of a free man.