Mike Rodriguez knows his UFC Vegas 7 fight against Marcin Prachnio is do-or-die for his UFC career.
Rodriguez was knocked out by Da Un Jung in December following a decision loss to John Allan which was overturned to a no-contest. The 31-year-old is 1-2 with one no-contest in the UFC.
Although Rodriguez hasn’t fought since last December, he originally didn’t think he would fight until the fall. But, the offer came up to fight Marcin Prachnio on Saturday night and he jumped at the chance.
“I didn’t think I would fight this summer until they came to me. I thought it would be a huge pain in the ass to fight and I thought they were using the bigger names so us little guys would get lost in the shuffle,” Rodriguez said to BJPENN.com. “It was an immediate yes when I got it offered. We got the fight and Joe Lauzon was like let’s make it happen.”
Prachnio, meanwhile, has not fought since September of 2018. The Pole is 0-2 in the UFC with knockout losses to Sam Alvey and Magomed Ankalaev.
For Rodriguez, he says that makes it hard to prepare as he doesn’t know what Prachnio will look like after two years away.
“I know a lot about him. One of my main sparring partners has a very similar background to him as they met in the karate circuit. I’ve watched one of his ONE Championship fights live,” Rodriguez explained. “The big question is the fact he has been gone for two years so we don’t know what Marcin we will get.”
The goal for Mike Rodriguez is to do what Alvey and Ankalaev did and that is getting a first-round win.
“I am so pumped. That is all I can think about is getting back into the win column,” Rodriguez said. “I believe I can get him out of the first round just so I can have a quick turnaround and fight again soon.”
If Mike Rodriguez does just that, he hopes he can get another fight this year and start to build up some momentum.
“I want at least one more fight this year. Possibly after this fight, maybe October will be good,” he concluded.
Do you think Mike Rodriguez will beat Marcin Prachnio in the first-round as he says?