{"id":490564,"date":"2026-02-21T19:43:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T19:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/490564\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T19:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T19:43:17","slug":"santa-rosa-trained-fighter-set-for-ufc-debut-in-mexico-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/490564\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Rosa-trained fighter set for UFC debut in Mexico City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imanol Rodr\u00edguez walked through the back door of a warehouse gym near Santa Rosa\u2019s Railroad Square on a Friday in late January, sporting a camo-patterned backpack full of mixed martial arts gear.<\/p>\n

He headed toward the ring inside Sanchez Boxing MMA, his black, curly hair matching his attire \u2014 black shirt, black shorts, grey boxing shoes \u2014 as he readied for his training session.<\/p>\n

With pink wrap on his hands, Rodriguez began warming up by jumping rope. The session would be a lighter one \u2013 shadow boxing, hitting pads and then work on the heavy bags.<\/p>\n

\"MMAImanol Rodriguez trains at the Sanchez Boxing MMA gym in Santa Rosa in late January. (John Burgess – The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

It was his second time training that day \u2014 part of a new, ramped-up schedule as Rodriguez prepares to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut Feb. 28 in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez, undefeated as an MMA fighter so far at 6-0, will fight Kevin Borjas (10-4) at 125 pounds, the UFC\u2019s flyweight division, on the main card that night.<\/p>\n

The late January session at the Donahue Street gym would be one of the 26-year-old fighter\u2019s last in Sonoma County before spending most of February continuing his preparation in Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis work ethic is outstanding,\u201d said Rosendo Sanchez, the gym\u2019s owner. \u201cHe comes in, he listens, and his attention to detail, in terms of what he wants to work on while outworking everybody, is a quality that a lot of kids don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was one thing that drew me to him, and he\u2019s just a good kid,\u201d Sanchez continued. \u201cHe\u2019s putting Santa Rosa on the map.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MMA<\/p>\n

MMA fighter Imanol Rodriguez trains for his UFC debut on Feb. 28 in Mexico City Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 at the Sanchez Boxing MMA gym in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

\"MMA<\/p>\n

MMA fighter Imanol Rodriguez, who will be making his UFC debut on the Feb. 28 Mexico City, trains with Rosendo Sanchez Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 at the Sanchez Boxing MMA gym in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

\"MMA<\/p>\n

MMA fighter Imanol Rodriguez, who will be making his UFC debut on Saturday night’s main card in Mexico City, trains with Rosendo Sanchez late last month in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess -The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

\"Imanol<\/p>\n

Imanol Rodriguez, center, trains Jan. 30 at the Sanchez Boxing MMA gym in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess – The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

\"MMA<\/p>\n

MMA fighter Imanol Rodriguez trains for his UFC debut on Feb. 28 in Mexico City, on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 at the Sanchez Boxing MMA gym in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

\"Imanol<\/p>\n

Imanol Rodriguez trains at the Sanchez Boxing MMA gym in Santa Rosa in late January. (John Burgess – The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

MMA fighter Imanol Rodriguez trains for his UFC debut on Feb. 28 in Mexico City Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 at the Sanchez Boxing MMA gym in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez first landed on Sanchez\u2019s radar last year, when the fighter was a contender on the UFC\u2019s \u201cUltimate Fighter\u201d reality TV show. UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier was one of the coaches for the up-and-coming fighters featured on the program, and Sanchez \u2014 who had been Cormier\u2019s striking coach \u2014 was part of the training team.<\/p>\n

Sanchez has also worked as the striking coach for another UFC Hall of Famer, Khabib Nurmagomedov, as well as current UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev.<\/p>\n

Cormier\u2019s team took Rodr\u00edguez with the No. 3 pick on the TV program, and he ended up making the semifinal round in the show\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n

After his performance on that show, Rodriguez was invited to take part in another TV program run by the UFC, CEO Dana White\u2019s \u201cContender Series.\u201d He beat Roque Concei\u00e7\u00e3o via TKO in the first round last fall to earn a UFC contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite a lot in a short time, only two months,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said of his TV experience. \u201cBut we learned a lot from our coaches and our teammates. The experience in the UFC cage, I believe, is something unique. I have gained a lot of experience from fighting in the past year, so I\u2019ve learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally from Ensenada, on the western coast of Baja California in Mexico, Rodriguez \u2014 who goes by \u201cHiman\u201d \u2014 now splits his time training at both Sanchez\u2019s Santa Rosa gym and Cormier\u2019s wrestling academy in Gilroy.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez credits Sanchez as one of the most influential people in his rising career, describing him as a father figure.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has become a father to me,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said of the gym owner. \u201cUnfortunately, my father is in heaven, but Rosendo has become that person to tell about my problems and how I feel. He gives me time not only as a coach, but also as part of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MMAMMA fighter Imanol Rodriguez, who will be making his UFC debut on the Feb. 28 Mexico City, trains with Rosendo Sanchez Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 at the Sanchez Boxing MMA gym in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess\/The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n

When he steps into the Mexico City octagon next weekend, Rodr\u00edguez will join a long list of successful Mexican-born fighters competing in the UFC. Raul Rosas Jr., also from Santa Rosa, is a blossoming bantamweight at 135 pounds. Mexico has produced numerous UFC champions over the years, including Brandon Moreno \u2014 who is headlining next weekend\u2019s UFC lineup \u2014 Yair Rodriguez and Alexa Grasso.<\/p>\n

But Rodriguez, a 5-foot-4 heavy hitter, doesn\u2019t want to be known as \u201cthe next Brandon Moreno\u201d or \u201cthe next Canelo Alvarez.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first Imanol Rodr\u00edguez,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said with a smile. \u201cI believe my name is going to resonate a lot. This year is going to be a tough year, but I\u2019m going to be climbing a lot in the division.\u201d<\/p>\n

And next weekend, as he begins his journey for a UFC belt, he\u2019ll have the support of not only those he trains with in Santa Rosa, but plenty of well-wishers back home in Mexico.<\/p>\n

Which is what makes fighting in Mexico City all that more special.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very special moment because I will have my family, my friends and a lot of people who have supported me, who don\u2019t have to go to Las Vegas or other countries,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the fact that I\u2019m at home is very beautiful, and it\u2019s very exciting knowing that all of Mexico is going to be watching me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez will be competing in the first fight on the main card at the Feb. 28 \u201cUFC Fight Night\u201d at Mexico City\u2019s Arena CDMX. The main event will be Moreno fighting Lone\u2019er Kavanagh at flyweight.<\/p>\n

The slate is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. and can be streamed live on Paramount Plus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imanol Rodr\u00edguez walked through the back door of a warehouse gym near Santa Rosa\u2019s Railroad Square on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,197142,8361,638,110421,82,640,36996],"class_list":{"0":"post-490564","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-imanol-rodriguez","12":"tag-mexico-city","13":"tag-mma","14":"tag-santa-rosa","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-ufc","17":"tag-ufc-fight-night"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}