Nicky Rod Bareknuckle?! ‘I Think About Fighting In MMA Everyday’

A Nick “Nicky Rod” Rodriguez transition to mixed martial arts (MMA) might not be the craziest thought in the combat sports world.

The 27-year-old jiu-jitsu superstar, Rodriguez, is one of the best in the world at his craft and has gone toe-to-toe with the elite of the elite. Whenever grapplers of such high calibers continue to succeed and rack up accomplishments, the more it makes MMA fans curious how they’d do in the cage and Rodriguez is no different.

Somewhat surprisingly, Rodriguez recently shared that it’s something constantly on his mind before revealing he had been recently offered to officially make the jump.

“I think about it every day,” Rodriguez said of fighting in MMA on the JAXXON PODCAST. “I think I would do well. I do know that it would take a substantial amount of time to develop the striking and technique to compete at the highest level. I have some thoughts, like maybe I would fight for a substantial amount of money to pick some gym teacher somewhere or I’d fully commit and try to be the champ ‘cause that’s the kind of guy I am. Typically if I do something, I want to be the best at it.

“I actually had [Jorge] Masvidal offer me a pretty decent cheque to do bare-knuckle MMA [in Gamebred Bareknuckle],” he continued. “Unfortunately though, it didn’t work out, but anything’s open in the future. It definitely would take like — I would have to dedicate at least six months to a year to striking before I even thought about hopping in the cage.”

Gamebred Bareknuckle’s Masvidal has been teasing the signing of a big-name world-class grappler since the promotion’s May 2023 event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After Rodriguez’s reveal of the offer, it’s safe to assume the two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight title challenger was hinting at him as the “mindblowing” potential signing.