The tall, upright, and prodigious figure, a colossus of Canarian wrestling, as stated in press archives that praise the technical quality and physical power of a hero of the time, Joaquín Rodríguez Cabrera (1895 -1959), son of Uga, forever adorns the central area of his town, where this legend of the native sport is immortalized.
The tribute has been carried out through the sculpture commissioned by the Yaiza City Council to Cintia Machín to forever remember the well-known 'Pollo de Uga', an impressive and detailed work that was unveiled on the afternoon of Thursday, May 8 by the mayor, Óscar Noda, and the southern artist in the presence of councilors of the Municipal Corporation, descendants of Joaquín Rodríguez. Among them, his youngest daughter, María Mercedes, neighbors of Uga and members of the Canarian wrestling family.
The mayor highlighted that "this 2025 we commemorate 130 years of the birth of the greatest wrestler in the Canary Islands, an example for new generations, and we fulfill a pending duty with our tradition and values." Cintia Machín, equally excited, maintained that "each stroke, each curve, each detail was modeled with the deepest desire to capture not only his best version, but also his soul," and the truth is that you only need to approach the town square to contemplate the greatness of what his image represents.
The Councilor for Sports of Yaiza, Ángel Lago, who was a wrestler and manager of the Unión Sur Yaiza Joaquín Rodríguez 'Pollo de Uga' Club, emphasized the "nobility, dedication, effort and pride for our roots that the figure of Joaquín Rodríguez embodies", also underlining the importance of spreading his history among the athletes of the quarry: "that the boys and girls who today put on the wrestling clothes know that here there was a man who left everything for Canarian wrestling, and that they, with work, respect and heart, can also go far."
The act was marked by emotion, but also by historical foundation. The journalist and researcher, Manuel García Déniz, author of the book Lanzarote, in the terrero (1995), made an extensive review of the sporting life and transcendence of Joaquín Rodríguez as a mass figure throughout the Canary Islands: "he was respected for his quality as a wrestler and also for his seriousness and exemplary behavior." García Déniz also recalled that around 1926 "he was the main attraction of wrestling throughout the Archipelago, filling terreros and exciting all the Canarians."
The Yaiza City Council encourages the people of Lanzarote to visit the sculpture and take an interest in the knowledge and dissemination of the history of Joaquín Rodríguez Cabrera 'Pollo de Uga'.
