The bantamweight prospect claims that the promotion wouldn’t let him out of his contract when offered a UFC fight against Marlon Vera.
Bantamweight prospect Drako Rodriguez recently got the call to the UFC, but wasn’t able to take it.
Rodriguez (5-1) said on social media he received an offer to fight Marlon Vera on short notice at Saturday’s UFC 239 in Las Vegas, but that the promotion he currently fights for, King of the Cage (KOTC), would not let him out of his contract. He said he has four fights left on it.
“I’m heartbroken,” Rodriguez said on Facebook. “These opportunities don’t come very often and I never thought I would have it stripped from me from the show that was supposed to be helping me to get there.”
A request for comment sent to KOTC Tuesday afternoon was not immediately returned.
Rodriguez’s manager Brian Butler-Au posted a statement of his own on social media. Butler-Au said KOTC blocked Rodriguez from fighting at UFC 239 because “he is a local draw and ticket seller.”
“Drako was already in this contract when we took over managing him so we weren’t able to change it but I have never seen a regional show block someone’s career/dream like this especially for the peanuts KOTC is paying him,” Butler-Au wrote on Instagram. “PS. The threat of ruining my potential relationship with KOTC by going public on this means nothing to me if this is how you treat fighters.
“Drako was in fact the only client we have ever had with them and will be our last. You have a reputation for a reason and I have mine… I’ll bank on mine.”
UFC 239 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Vera is now scheduled to fight newcomer Nohelin Rodriguez.