UFC fighter openly shares he was in prison in Mexico during his eight-month break
A well-known UFC fighter has just announced he’s out of prison after disappearing from the spotlight for months. His last fight was at UFC 318 on July 19 last year.
When Daniel Rodriguez beat Kevin Holland by unanimous decision eight months ago, no one expected that the 39-year-old would soon be behind bars.
It’s still unclear what exactly happened, but on Wednesday (April 8), Rodriguez shared a short video on his Instagram story with the caption: “Release day.”
Before this, fans had been wondering about Rodriguez’s whereabouts since he’s been on a three-fight winning streak, beating Alex Morono, Santiago Ponzinibbio, and Holland between October 2024 and July 2025. During those months, he vanished from social media, wasn’t seen at his gym, and didn’t talk to the press.
Neither his team nor the UFC have officially said anything about his time away from the sport.
However, last week, he appeared in a post promoting a tattoo studio, marking his first social media activity in a while. And even though he had just been released, his last opponent, Holland, quickly called him out—joking that he was the one who “bailed him out.”
In an interview with Full Send MMA, Holland said, “I had to get this win, then I had to help ‘D-Rod’ out. He can get through probation, and when I fight again, he’ll be ready. I rewatched our fight—I honestly don’t know how I lost. We should do it again. It was a great fight with lots of action and excitement for the fans.”
Holland, 33, will first fight Randy Brown at UFC 327 in Miami on April 12 before aiming for a rematch with Rodriguez.
Fans quickly shared their thoughts about Rodriguez’s release on social media. One said, “No way he was really locked up over there.” Another wrote, “No way Daniel Rodriguez from the UFC was actually in jail in Mexico.” A third added, “Kevin Holland wasn’t joking; he really did bail out D-Rod.”