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The man we used to know as Alberto Del Rio, and Alberto El Patron, has been in the news a lot lately. But a lot of those headlines have been focused on his personal life rather than his professional one, and not in the most flattering ways.
He’s trying to change that with a few announcements, including that he’s now going by Alberto “El Presidente” Rodriguez. Rodriguez is his real surname. El Presidente is a reference to the new job which was officially confirmed yesterday - as President of the mixed martial arts promotion Combate Americas.
The company, started in 2012 by one of the men who founded UFC, Campbell McLaren, will publicly introduce Rodriguez at their show this Friday in Verona, New York. It’s an outift geared toward Hispanic fighters and fans, making Alberto a good fit as the public face of a product which will air in English on UFC’s streaming Fight Pass service.
As he told ESPN, “I like to be in front of the camera with a microphone in my hand to tell people all about how proud I am to be Latino and to be a Mexican. I think all of the fighters who are competing for Combate Americas feel the same way.”
Though he turned down an offer to fight for Combate Americas (“I think I'm too old for that”), the 39 year did say he’ll be involved in recruiting fighters. His focus is going to be on the sports entertainment side, however. Again, from ESPN:
I am going to try and bring all of that experience to not just make great fighters, but great entertainers. We know Ronda [Rousey] and[Conor] McGregor are great fighters but they are also showmen. McGregor is an amazing fighter and his Octagon skills are not in debate. But the reason why he has accomplished all of those things is because he is a showman. And people want to see him winning or losing -- but they want to see him.
At the end of the day this is fighting, so they are going to be fighting. But we also want them to entertain the crowd.
Although his goal is to make Combate Americas the #2 MMA company in the world, he’s not ending his own in-ring career. He told ESPN in a separate interview that his plan is to retire at 40, but he has some irons in the pro wrestling fire for the time until then:
I already talked to my friends from Ring of Honor, and I'm a big fan of that company and their talent. I had a blast a few years ago, and I'm going to have fun with all those guys again pretty soon, as well as doing something with my friends in TNA, especially because my friend Drew McIntyre [Galloway] works for them. I have other friends like Damien [Sandow, a.k.a Aron Rex] and Cody Rhodes. I'm just looking forward to doing an appearance with them pretty soon.
Excited to see the second-generation luchador following in Cody’s footsteps? Are you interested in checking out Combate Americas now that the man who fought in Japanese shoot promotions as Dos Caras Jr. is involved?