Daniel Rodriguez: Mike Perry will have to look for a job after dealing with me

Daniel Rodriguez thinks Mike Perry is on his way out of the UFC and he plans on delivering the final blow.

Rodriguez (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who’s wanted the matchup for a while, got his wish when he was booked to face Perry (14-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) at a UFC Fight Night event April 10.

Although Perry has dropped three of his past four, he remains one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster. So Rodriguez sees incentive in beating the polarizing welterweight, who he thinks will likely be fighting for his job when they square off.

“Stylistically, it’s a great fight,” Rodriguez told MMA Junkie. “It’s a fan-favorite fight. He’s got a reputation. … I’m trying to take that shine – even though he shines for some of the wrong reasons sometimes. But he’s got a lot of publicity. He’s got a big name, and I’m kind of aiming for them big-name fights. Really, that’s all it is. I think he’s a big dummy, but he can fight.

“He’s on a losing streak. I’m coming off a loss, too, so it’s going to make for a really great fight because I’m coming in there with no intentions of losing, and I’m expecting a tough fight. He’s probably on his way out from the UFC, so if I’m that person that’s going to take him out, get him – you know. He’s going to have to look for a job after dealing with me.”

Rodriguez has spent the majority of this training camp at Donald Cerrone’s “BMF Ranch” in New Mexico, where he’s been able to get some new insight. Cerrone fought Perry in 2018 and submitted him in the first round with an armbar.

All four of his UFC fights may have played out predominantly on the feet, but Rodriguez is looking to exploit Perry’s ground game in what he sees as a crack in his armor.

“The whole team said the same thing about him,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t really want to expose him that much other than what everybody else knows, he doesn’t have a great ground game. On the other hand, he fought Mickey (Gall), and Mickey is a really solid jiu-jitsu guy, and that went all three rounds and Perry won that.

“I just feel like he has crappy ground game – that’s pretty much it. He can take a punch. He fought Tim Means and they had a great, great fight, and I dropped Tim Means twice when I fought him. So I’m curious to see how my striking (works). I just feel like I’m going to pick him apart, and if he tries to take me down, I’m pretty safe on the ground.”