The hopes of seeing Nick “Nicky Rod” Rodriguez in mixed martial arts (MMA) are slipping further and further away.
Rodriguez, 27, returned to action against an old foe, Yuri Simoes, at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 (watch highlights) earlier this month (Dec. 10, 2023). The impressive B-Team Jiu-Jitsu product picked up his second win over Simoes when he won their match via points.
In the lead-up to the event, Rodriguez revealed he’d been offered an opportunity to compete in MMA for Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Bareknuckle — the gloveless variant of the sport. Rodriguez expressed that he was interested and things almost come together had it not been for poor timing. Ultimately, as jiu-jitsu continues to grow, especially financially, it’s lessening his chances of making a transition between sports.
“We’re nearing in on six figures per match nowadays,” Rodriguez said on the JAXXON PODCAST. “I would need like seven figures to hop in a cage. I could do a few matches, make a mil or I could do one fight and make a mil. That’s fun to me. But what’s also different between MMA and jiu-jitsu is that jiu-jitsu is very fun, it’s enjoyable the whole time, it’s not that much stress. Fighting is not as much fun. For sure, some fighters love what they do, but the consequence, the worst case scenario is much worse than the worst case scenario in jiu-jitsu.”
Rodriguez in MMA action would be his first time utilizing strikes in a professional fighting format. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native noted how he has knocked people out in his life before, those instances just occurred when he was on duty as a bouncer back in the day.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
