Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues has learned not to waste energy trying to convince people of what he already knows.
As the Brazilian prepares for his second UFC main event, Rodrigues is approaching the biggest moments of his career with a noticeably different perspective. There is ambition, certainly. There is pressure. There is a five-round fight with Anthony Hernandez waiting for him at UFC Sacramento this Saturday.
But there is also gratitude.
“I like to think I'm living a dream of someone,” Rodrigues tells Fighters Only. “If that was my dream, so that become true.”
For Rodrigues, the significance of this week is not lost on him. His UFC journey has taken him from contender to contender, through victories and setbacks, and now back into the main-event spotlight. The 34-year-old enters Sacramento on a three-fight winning streak and with six victories in his last seven appearances.
Rather than allowing the magnitude of the occasion to consume him, Rodrigues is determined to enjoy it.
“Man, the life goes fast, bro. And if you're not enjoying it…” he says. “I want to enjoy every single second in this moment here.”
That mindset is particularly striking given what Rodrigues has already experienced in the UFC.
His first main event ended in disappointment when Jared Cannonier stopped him in the fourth round in February 2025. It was the first time Rodrigues had been scheduled to fight five rounds, and he admits he did not fully understand what that preparation required at the time.
Now, with another five-round main event ahead of him, Rodrigues believes he understands the assignment.
“Henry (Hooft) always tell me, ‘Gregory, who fights three rounds can't fight five rounds,’” he says, referring to his training. “In the gym and the sparring rounds, we always spar five, six, seven rounds.”
The difference this time, he says, is understanding why he is doing it.
“Now, like, I know how important I have to give for this fight.”
That preparation has included an enviable group of training partners at Kill Cliff FC. Rodrigues singles out Nassourdine Imavov, who spent several weeks training with him, as well as Bellator/PFL champion Jason Jackson and a number of wrestlers who helped replicate the demands of a five-round fight.
“I have the best training partners. I couldn't have it on this camp,” Rodrigues says. “I have Nassourdine Imavov... We train together for like four or five weeks straight. And that was amazing.”
The work has been hard. Rodrigues wouldn't have it any other way.
“When the expensive price, you're gonna get something better,” he says. “I pay for it, and the price was expensive.”
That willingness to pay the price is central to how Rodrigues sees his career.
And it is also why he has little interest in answering the critics who questioned whether he could thrive over 25 minutes.
Following his loss to Cannonier, questions about Rodrigues' conditioning and ability to sustain his performance in a five-round fight were inevitable. Hernandez now represents a particularly interesting test: a relentless middleweight who is coming off a loss to Sean Strickland but had previously won eight straight fights.
Yet Rodrigues rejects the premise that he needs to prove anything.
“I'm not here to answer anyone's question about all Gregory can do this, can do that,” he says.
His response to the doubters is blunt.
“Those people who said that, they never fight, man. They never get like a slap on the face... They sit on the couch with the popcorn or whatever, the bad foods, the junk foods, and they keep saying about something.”
There is no anger behind the words so much as certainty.
“I know who I am and I know what I can do.”
That may be the most revealing line from Rodrigues' mindset heading into Sacramento.
He is not trying to rewrite his past. He is trying to build on it.
“Sometimes the hard times, sometimes you have to break it to build it again,” he says.
That rebuilding process has produced one of the strongest stretches of his UFC career. Rodrigues has won his last three, including first-round knockouts of Jack Hermansson and Brunno Ferreira, alongside a decision victory over Roman Kopylov. UFC's current profile lists him at No. 11 in the middleweight rankings, with 12 career knockout victories and six wins by KO/TKO inside the UFC.
Now comes Hernandez.
The stakes are substantial. UFC has described the matchup as a pivotal middleweight contest, with Hernandez ranked No. 6 and Rodrigues No. 12 when the fight was announced.
For Rodrigues, though, the broader picture remains simple.
Win this fight, and the road toward the championship becomes clearer.
Lose, and the work continues.
Either way, he refuses to look too far beyond the task immediately in front of him.
“The next fight is always going to be the most important fight,” he says. “That's the right fight, and that's the fight I want.”
Ask him where he sees himself in two years, however, and the ambition becomes impossible to miss.
“Maybe less than two years I will be fighting for the title.”
Rodrigues knows the middleweight division is stacked. He rattles off names including Brendan Allen, Joe Pyfer, Khamzat Chimaev, Sean Strickland and current champion Dricus Du Plessis, acknowledging just how difficult the climb will be.
Then comes the smile in his voice.
“When I look at it, I say, ‘Oh my God, man, I belong in this.’”
That belief is not based on entitlement. It is based on the work.
Rodrigues has already experienced the disappointment of a main-event loss. He has experienced the criticism that followed. He has gone back to the gym, rebuilt, and earned his way into another headline fight.
And now, as he prepares to walk into the Octagon in Sacramento once again, he isn't interested in making promises to anyone else.
He simply wants to cash in the work he has already put in.
“I don't have nothing to prove for nobody, man,” Rodrigues says. “I just want to do my work.”
One more win would move him another step toward the title he believes is within reach.
But first, there are 25 minutes to earn it.
And Rodrigues is ready to enjoy every second.
“Go to war, baby. That's all about.”
