By Tony Reid

UFC featherweight and "The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America" Season 1 winner Yair Rodriguez is one of the fastest rising stars in the sport today. His highlight reel striking skills coupled with an unorthodox and unpredictable fight finishing style have quickly made him a favorite among fans.

Rodriguez spends much of his time under the tutelage of the world class coaching staff at Jackson-Winklejohn MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In our newest installment of Gym Stories, Rodriguez recalls a training trip to a well-known fight ranch owned and operated by the one and only Donald Cerrone.

Rodriguez found the amenities so comfortable that he chose to take a nap while at the ranch.

"Cowboy Cerrone is always very confident in himself." Rodriguez said. "I was training with him some time ago. I wasn't even fighting for the UFC at the time. He took me to the ranch with all my friends. He said we were going to grapple. He said he was going to submit me five times. If he couldn't submit me five times during our roll he would admit I was better than him, but if he caught me five times he was going to put me to sleep.

"I agreed and then we started to grapple. He never got me. With seven seconds left he got me in a triangle. All of my friends started counting down "Seven, six, five…" then with a few seconds left he put me to sleep.

"When I woke up he was sitting next to me and asked me what was up," Rodriguez added. "I asked why he put me to sleep. He didn't get me five times. He said I should have tapped. Hey, I wasn't going to tap. I was trying to escape that triangle or beat the clock but I couldn't, so he decided to put me to sleep."