Bad blood continues to boil between Yair Rodriguez and Ilia Topuria.
The two featherweights are set to fight this month— but not against each other. Former interim champion Rodriguez faces Brian Ortega at UFC Mexico City while Topuria has his first title opportunity lined up against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298.
‘He’ll Talk Sh*t About Whomever’
How did the beef come about? Well, Topuria apparently had some choice words to say about Rodriguez’s TKO loss to Volkanovski to which ‘El Pantera’ didn’t take kindly. It’s been back-and-forth ever since, with Rodriguez firing the latest shots at the upcoming title challenger.
“He’ll talk sh*t about whomever,” Rodriguez said on ‘The MMA Hour‘. “He’s mentioning Canelo [Alvarez], he’s mentioning [Conor] McGregor. Why do you think he’s doing that? Because he’s marketing. He’ll never get to face somebody like McGregor. He’ll never get to face somebody like Canelo. Of course not.”
Rodriguez On Topuria: ‘His Career Will Be Over’ After UFC 298
While Topuria continues to talk a big game, already mentioning other fights, Rodriguez thinks those dreams will all come crashing down when he takes on Alexander ‘The Great’.
“His career will be over after this fight against Volkanovski,” Rodriguez claimed. “He’s been talking so much shit, saying so many things, and people is gonna f*cking be laughing at him after this.”
“I’m like neutral, you know? Whomever wins, wins, whatever. But, I don’t really see Topuria winning. That’s my honest opinion.”
Potential Fight?
Win or lose, Rodriguez is more than down to fight ‘El Matador’ in the future. But first, he’s got business to take care of with former foe Brian Ortega.
“If I win my fight against Brian Ortega which I’m planning on doing, and Alexander Volkanovski wins, I would like to face Volkanovski, of course. Because why would I face [Topuria coming off a loss]? Like, he has nothing to offer. But anyways, I would like to face him at some point.
“I would like to f*ck him up. Especially like if UFC plans and go to Spain, f*ck man, I’ll f*cking fight in Spain… because it’s his house. I would love to f*cking beat him in his fucking house. I respect everybody but this guy.”
