UKAD informed Rodriguez of the findings and issued a provisional suspension. The agency later charged him with anti-doping rule violations after receiving no response. UKAD said that repeated attempts were made to contact Rodriguez through various channels, but no response was provided at any stage of the process.
UKAD did not classify the offenses as intentional. A two-year period of ineligibility was imposed, starting on July 30, 2025, the date of the provisional suspension, and running until July 29, 2027.
Rodriguez’s unanimous decision victory over Yafai, which cost Yafai his undefeated record and WBC interim flyweight title, was overturned and ruled a no contest. The disqualification removes the result from the official record after confirmation of the adverse findings related to the sample.
The ruling restores Yafai’s record on paper and overturns the result linked to the banned substances detected after the match.
When a guy wins through an opponent through pure activity, the line between natural conditioning and chemical assistance becomes incredibly blurred. Rodriguez has always been a “pressure cooker” fighter, but this ruling casts a long shadow over that particular performance.
For Yafai, it’s a bittersweet turnaround. He got his undefeated record back on paper, but he still had to endure those 12 rounds of punishment in the ring. It’s a tough break for a guy who essentially fought an uphill battle against an “improved” gas tank.
It really changes the perspective on that “unanimous decision.” Had Rodriguez not been able to redline his engine for 36 minutes, Yafai’s technical skills might have carried the day.
