Report: Yair Rodriguez, Dana White kiss and make up, agree to Zabit Magomedsharipov fight at UFC 228

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, angrily told the mixed martial arts (MMA) media that he cut featherweight phenom Yair Rodriguez after “Pantera” repeatedly turned down fights, including a showdown against Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC 227 in Los Angeles.

I’m not sure what changed between then and now, but it appears the two parties recently reconciled and the Magomedsharipov is back on the table, though the date looks to have been pushed back about a month or so.

“I’m told UFC is rescinding its termination letter to Yair Rodriguez, essentially reinstating his contract,” ESPN’s Brett Okamoto wrote on Twitter. “Rodriguez vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov is now verbally agreed to for UFC 228 in September.”

The Mexican-born Rodriguez (10-2) began negotiating with other organizations in the days after he was (cough) “released,” even drawing a lucrative offer from Hispanic-based combat sports promotion Combate Americas, which has a stranglehold on the Latin American MMA scene.

No telling if the negotiations were an attempt to gauge his market value or if the kerfuffle was just another case of White losing his cool, but for now, it appears Rodriguez is heading back to the Octagon later this year.