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Uros Medic reacts to Daniel Rodriguez’s imprisonment prior to UFC Belgrade booking: ‘It puts a stain on all of our names’

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3 weeks ago

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Uros Medic reacts to Daniel Rodriguez’s imprisonment prior to UFC Belgrade booking: ‘It puts a stain on all of our names’

Uros Medic is excited to compete in the first UFC main event in Serbia at UFC Belgrade this Saturday against Daniel Rodriguez, but he doesn't feel bad for the road Rodriguez has gone through to get there.

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€

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MMA

Yair Rodriguez out, Jose Delgado steps in against Jean Silva at Noche UFC 4

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3 hours ago

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August 19, 2026

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Yair Rodriguez out, Jose Delgado steps in against Jean Silva at Noche UFC 4
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship's fourth edition of Noche UFC
reportedly has a new main event.

Jean
Silva was originally scheduled to face Yair
Rodriguez in the main event at
Noche UFC 4 on Sept. 12 at the Desert Diamond Arena in
Glendale, Arizona. However, per a new report by Guilherme Cruz, Rodriguez has pulled out for unknown
reasons and will now be replaced by Jose
Delgado.

Jose Delgado replaces Yair Rodriguez in Jean Silva's Noche UFC
4 main event

Delgado (12-2) is 4-1 in the UFC since making his Octagon debut in
2024. Coming off decision wins over Andre Fili
and Austin
Bashi, he will face his biggest step up in competition by far
against Silva (17-3).

Meanwhile, Silva is coming off a decision win over Arnold
Allen, rebounding from his lone UFC loss to Diego
Lopes. “Lord†had finished all five of his previous UFC
opponents before losing to Lopes. The Brazilian reacted to the
change of opponent on X.

“Hunter took care of everything, we have a new target,†Silva
posted on X. “New opponent, same date, same goal.â€

Rodriguez (20-5) is now facing backlash for yet another withdrawal.
“El Pantera†hasn't fought since a win over Patricio
Freire last April, which saw him rebound from consecutive
stoppage losses to Alexander
Volkanovski and Brian
Ortega.

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MMA

Joshua Van reflects on knockout loss that changed his life

Published

6 hours ago

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August 19, 2026

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Joshua Van reflects on knockout loss that changed his life
Joshua
Van hasn’t forgotten the night Charles
Johnson handed him the first loss of his
Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Over two years after being stopped by Johnson, Van has gone from
prospect to UFC flyweight champion. The 24-year-old will return to
the Octagon on Sept. 19, when he rematches former champion Alexandre
Pantoja in the UFC
331 main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Joshua Van details how KO loss to Charles Johnson ‘humbled'
him

Van was stopped by Johnson via a third-round knockout in July 2024,
a setback that remains the second and most recent loss of his
professional career. He has since won seven straight fights and
captured the flyweight championship from Pantoja before defending
it against Tatsuro
Taira.

Speaking to Paramount+, Van explained how the defeat changed his
approach to training and discipline.

“Oh, for sure. I want to stay active,†Van said. “Like I say, that
loss kind of humbled me in a way. So, I never want to taste defeat
again. So, my work ethic that I put in the gym is just different
from that day on.â€

Van said that he doesn’t believe he needed to completely overhaul
his fighting style after the loss. Instead, he said the focus was
on remaining himself and avoiding the mistakes that preceded the
Johnson bout.

“Going into that camp, there’s a lot of things that I did that I
shouldn’t have done,†Van added. “Stuff like that, but there’s no
excuse… He beat me fair and square. And it humbled me to become a
better fighter.â€

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MMA

UFC 332 adds four bouts as Salt Lake City card takes shape

Published

7 hours ago

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August 19, 2026

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UFC 332 adds four bouts as Salt Lake City card takes shape
The lineup for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's next trip to Utah is taking
shape.

Four bouts have been added to UFC 332,
scheduled for Oct. 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Notably, no
championship bouts have been announced for the card as yet, despite
the title fights for
UFC 333 already locked in and made public.

Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Payton Talbott and Johnny Walker vs.
Mick Parkin join UFC 332

Payton
Talbott (11-1) will look to build on the biggest win of his
career after defeating former two-division champion Henry
Cejudo by unanimous decision in December last year. The
27-year-old will take on another former UFC champ, Deiveson
Figueiredo (25-7-1), in his next bout. Talbott has won his last
two fights since suffering the lone defeat of his career to
Raoni
Barcelos.

Meanwhile, Figueiredo will attempt to halt a two-fight skid. The
former 125-pound champion has dropped four of his past five bouts,
with his lone victory in that stretch coming via split decision
against Montel
Jackson.

Also joining the UFC 332 card is a heavyweight clash between
Johnny
Walker (22-10) and Mick Parkin
(10-1). Both fighters enter the matchup coming off losses. Walker
is committing to a move up to heavyweight after a turbulent run at
205 pounds.

An explosive clash of strikers has also been confirmed for the
card, with Ateba
Abega Gautier (11-1) set to square off against Roman
Kopylov (15-5). Furthermore, Damian
Pinas, who competed at
UFC 329, takes on Andrey
Pulyaev.

Other previously confirmed matchups for the card include the return
of former title challenger Marvin
Vettori and Court
McGee's retirement bout.

The latest UFC 332 lineup, as of Aug. 18, is as follows:

Deiveson
Figueiredo vs. Payton
Talbott
Mick
Parkin vs. Johnny
Walker
Ateba
Abega Gautier vs. Roman
Kopylov
Damian
Pinas vs. Andrey
Pulyaev
Ismail
Naurdiev vs. Marvin
Vettori
Alden
Coria vs. Imanol
Rodriguez
Court
McGee vs. Eric
Nolan

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