Mike Rodriguez is back in action next month at UFC 223, with his opponent on that night being Devin Clark.
The fighter was last seen on Dana White?s Tuesday Night Contender Series Episode 5, but an injury that he suffered during the fight delayed his UFC debut.
?I wanted to get in the cage sooner, but I had an injury. I messed up my knee, my knee was really banged up. I shattered my knee cap and my cartilage landing that knee on the Contender Series. I had to baby that for a little bit, I had to do a bunch of rehab and everything?no surgery,? Rodriguez said in an exclusive interview with Fightful?s James Lynch.
Rodriguez finished DWTNCS opponent Jamelle Jones with a flying knee strike, it is unknown if that strike is what lead to the injury to his knee.
One thing that Rodriguez likes to do in his off time from MMA competition is to play video games, with Monster Hunter and Rainbow Six Siege being favorites at the moment.
?Monster Hunter?its like?a group of four people going out to kill these huge, big monsters. Then you craft, you farm them for much stuff. You get a bunch of gear from their bodies, their carcasses I guess. Its a lot of fun, it came out years ago for (Sony) PSP, that?s where it originally blew up from. It finally came to (video game) console(s) and its been amazing. I?ve been playing a lot of that and Rainbow Six (Siege), Rainbow Six is my game. That?s my game and I?m always playing that one,? says Rodriguez.
UFC 223 takes place on Saturday, April 7 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York with Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.