Hyder Amil says a stomach infection and ulcer problem helped drive his last two UFC losses. Christian Rodriguez is next, and Amil says he is healthy enough to return Saturday on the main card of UFC Fight Night 279.
Hyder Amil and Christian Rodriguez
Amil said he was sick while fighting, then learned doctors had found an ulcer and an infection in his stomach. He said, “I was puking, fighting stomach symptoms during the fight, and they found out I had an ulcer, a hole in my stomach with acid, while I was fighting, pouring out.”
He added, “My last two losses, my last two fights, because of my infection I got from Mexico when I ate something – I was wondering where I got all these symptoms and I wasn't recovering well.” That line explains the split between the results on paper and the condition he says he was carrying into those fights.
UFC Fight Night 279 return
Amil said he was eight pounds light in both of his last two fights, and that he could not rehydrate properly because his stomach was compromised. He also said, “I'm off the medications,” and, “When the doctors found out, it cleared it, and now I feel so healthy.”
The return matters because his last two losses changed the picture around him. After entering the UFC in 2023 by defeating Emrash Sonmez on Dana White's Contender Series, he won his first two UFC bouts by stopping Fernie Garcia and Jeong Yeong Lee, then beat William Gomis by split decision before the skid started.
Amil's two-fight skid
His recent run still counts as a two-fight skid. Last June, Jose Delgado stopped him at UFC 317, and Jamall Emmers followed with a unanimous decision win. Amil said the fight against Christian Rodriguez is his chance to show a different version of himself after dealing with the stomach issue he says had gone untreated long enough to be dangerous.
“I lost my last fight, but I won something bigger,” he said. He also called last year “craziness,” saying, “My dad died, my best friend, my dog – everyone died in those three fights I had in eight months last year, and I had a stomach infection.” Saturday gives him the first clean test of whether the medical problem is behind him.
