Medic and Rodriguez both enter this weekend's five-round welterweight clash riding three-fight win streaks. Prior to the fight being booked, Rodriguez spent eight months in a Mexican prison following an arrest due to being caught in possession of marijuana. Rodriguez was released in April and is now ready to resume his fighting career.

Days before the matchup, the surging 170-pound contender reacted to Rodriguez's tough situation.

“[It's] obviously unfortunate to hear anytime an athlete is going through some struggles and getting in trouble with the law, or violence or anything like that,†Medic told MMA Fighting. “It puts a stain on all of our names. I don't respect that.

“Mistakes can be made, and he's just a human being, so it is what it is, but I try to represent something better. We are all athletes, and I try to be educated and make smart decisions and not get myself in those kinds of troubles, and not try to build my name off of things that sell, such as being a clown or being just a total… like a controversial person. I'm not saying he intentionally did something like that, probably not.â€

Rodriguez competes for the first time in over a year following a wild decision win over Kevin Holland at UFC 318 in July 2025. Medic was one of the stars coming out of February's UFC Houston event after stopping Geoff Neal in a little over a minute — his third straight first-round finish.

While Medic hopes Rodriguez is in a better place, he isn't, and won't show any sympathy when the octagon door locks.

“As I was saying, it's unfortunate that he had to go through stuff like that, obviously it was probably his fault,†Medic said. “Media cannot wait to write another bad story about an MMA fighter. So I don't buy into any of that. I don't feed into any of that.

“I'm not the type of fighter that's going to be a controversial person like that and have trouble with the law, trouble with drugs, substance abuse, or anything like that. I don't buy into that. I'm a professional athlete. I carry myself professionally. I study, I try to act accordingly. Obviously I'm no saint, but you won't see me in the news getting arrested – at least I hope so. I mean, I never tried to, but you never know with that type of stuff, so I wish him well, but when Saturday night comes, I'm going to try to hurt him.â€

Medic believes this opportunity is a “historic†one for himself and the UFC as he prepares to get the big pop from the sold out crowd at Belgrade Arena. Medic plans to send his hometown faithful home happy and proud.

“The headlines are going to read, ‘The Doctor is in,'†Medic said. Another finish for Uros Medic, and that's all I'm chasing really.â€