David 'Flip' Rodriguez is a freerunner who competed in SASUKE 27 via American Ninja Warrior 3. He made it through the qualifying and semi-final rounds with little trouble and completed the Team Relays as one of the more consistent competitors on his team, the White Tigers. This consistency helped him become one of the ten U.S. competitors to qualify for SASUKE 27, with Rodriguez being the #5 qualifier.
Although his First Stage run was digested during the ANW3 Finals, his full run was shown during the SASUKE 27 broadcast. He was shown showboating on the course during his run, though this did little to hinder him and he was still able to clear Stage 1 with 17.73 seconds left on the clock. In Second Stage, he failed the Slider Drop when he failed to keep the bar straight along the track, similar to what fellow freerunner and American veteran Levi Meeuwenberg did in SASUKE 25.
He was also a member of the team Miami Freerunning (where he is also an instructor at their academy) during his time on Jump City: Seattle.
In American Ninja Warrior 4 Rodriguez managed to catch the fastest time in the qualifying round, and in the regional finals. Overall, Rodriguez caught the fastest time in all 6 regions and knocked out Kamerion Wimbley. Rodriguez cleared Stage 1 with about 18 seconds left, but failed on the Balance Tank when he fell backwards and slipped off the tank.
In American Ninja Warrior 5 Rodriguez caught the second fastest time in both the Qualifying Round and City Finals, but failed the Jumping Spider in Stage 1. When he came out of the water, during his interview, he was shown to be crying as he said he let all of the people who wanted him to win down.
He then competed once again in Miami in American Ninja Warrior 6, but shocked many people when he failed the Jump Hang, not knowing how low he was near the water and lost his footing on the net, causing his rear to skim the water. This proved to be one of the most devastating moments of Flip's life, as he felt far more devastated than season 5 when he failed Stage 1. Flip even considered quitting for good.
Flip was so devastated, he didn't even want to compete. But thinking of his fans, he was convinced into competing again. After such a depressing previous season, he came back in American Ninja Warrior 7 stronger than ever. He finished the qualifying and landed in 3rd place. For the first time ever he ran the course without the mask. According the Flip, it was mentioned that his mask represented everything he went through the previous year. In the city finals, he maneuvered through the course with ease until he reached the Invisible Ladder. On the obstacle, he was moving through the obstacle at a steady pace but started getting fatigued. Inches to the finish, he tried to reach it with his legs but his grip gave out and failed. He still put up a strong performance and qualified to Vegas in 3rd place.
In Vegas, he got his revenge on the Jumping Spider and completed Stage 1 and later passed the fourth obstacle for the first time in Stage 2. On the brand new obstacle Roulette Row, Flip was able to transition to the second ring but didn't let go of the ring to land on the landing platform causing him to not gain momentum on the ring and ultimately falling in the water. American Ninja Warrior 7 is his best tournament to date.
American Ninja Warrior 8
Flip Rodriguez came back stronger than ever and returned for season 8 at the Los Angeles Qualifying Round at Universal Studios, where he finished with the second fastest time at 02:23.12, advancing to the Los Angeles City Finals. During the Los Angeles City Finals he revealed that the main reason for him wearing a mask was because he was sexually abused from the age of 9 to 15. During the Finals he put on an impressive run before failing at the new Wedge obstacle. Since he made it to the obstacle in a fast time he earned a spot for the Las Vegas Finals.
Results
| SASUKE | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 66 | Failed Slider Drop (Second Stage) | |
| ANW 4 | 100 | Failed Balance Tank(Second Stage) | |
| ANW 5 | 84 | Failed Jumping Spider (First Stage) | |
| ANW 7 | 24 | Failed Roulette Row (Second Stage) | Got hung up on the second ring |