- Ilia Topuria pointed out why he and Yair Rodriguez are different
- “El Matador” said he doesn’t win because of stoppage due to injuries like “El Pantera” did with Brian Ortega
Ilia Topuria insists that he and Yair Rodriguez are not on the same level as fighters and it is easy to see.
Ilia wins fairly and squarely
Speaking to Spanish outlet KOlmenero, “El Matador” pointed out that Rodriguez can run his mouth but the truth is they are not the same. According to Topuria, he beat his opponents fairly and squarely and not because of other things such as forced stoppage due to injuries.
“They have not been giving me big fights because I have been talking but because I have been winning, which is something that differentiates him and me. I don’t win fights because my opponent’s shoulder pops out. I don’t win fights because they beat me up and in the fifth round he took an elbow that I don’t even know where it came from. They don’t use me as a rag in the fights,” Topuria said.
“They just want to excuse themselves and go to the UFC, ‘You give him and not me,’ but of course, if he wins and you don’t. What do you mean I talk? Let him talk and he will see that he will not get anything. If he is going to see this, a piece of advice for him: Let him start winning and he will start receiving things. Talking doesn’t get you anything. What you have to do is win… What you have to do is to train more and more, boy. Try harder, give the best of you, and everything is possible,” he added.
Ilia Topuria responds to Yair Rodriguez: "The difference between you and me is that I win fights and you do not. Try harder, kid."
The beef between Ilia and Yair is real.
Source: Interview on KOlmenero (YouTube) and ABC pic.twitter.com/JwCa7BS2En
— KOlmenero (@KOlmeneroMMA) January 23, 2024
Yair wants another title shot
Prior to Topuria, Alexander Volkanovski stopped Rodriguez via TKO at UFC 290. He is now set to rematch Brian Ortega next month. It can be recalled that the first match ended in a TKO win for “El Pantera” dur to Ortega’s shoulder injury. Rodriguez is confident that a win over “T-City” would make him a title challenger once again.
On the other hand, “El Matador” will hope to dethrone Volkanovski at UFC 298. It is interesting to see how things would play out and if Topuria and Rodriguez would end up crossing paths inside the Octagon.
