Former interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez believes another big win over Brian Ortega could put in right back into title contention.
On February 24, the UFC will return to Mexico City for a loaded night of fights headlined by former flyweight titleholder Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval. The co-main event of the evening will see a rematch nearly two years in the making when Yair Rodriguez returns to take on featherweight fan favorite Brian Ortega.
‘El Pantera’ scored a first-round TKO in their first meeting after Ortega suffered a devastating shoulder injury.
Speaking with Mike Owens in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview, Rodriguez was asked if he sees their rematch as an opportunity to quiet the naysayers who suggest that he only walked away with a win due to Ortega’s opening-round injury in their inaugural clash.
“Not really. I don’t see why people keep thinking that his shoulder fell off for no reason,” Rodriguez said. “It’s okay. Everybody can think whatever they want about what happened there. If Brian wants to accept it or not, that’s not my problem. This is a completely different fight in a whole different environment and it’ll be great. Mexico is gonna be a super tough fight so it’s gonna be interesting.”
A month following his loss to Rodriguez, ‘T-City’ underwent surgery for the third time to repair his shoulder. With Ortega having a clear history of shoulder trouble, many fight fans believe he will be far from 100% when he steps back inside the Octagon next month. Regardless, ‘El Pantera’ is preparing for the best possible version of Brian Ortega imaginable.
“I haven’t even thought about if he’s fully healthy or not,” Rodriguez added. “That’s not my problem. My only problem is preparing myself for the best version of Brian Ortega and that’s what’s in my mind. Just being ready myself and presenting the best version of myself so we can give the people what they want.”
"It's unfortunate, I told him we can run it back any time."
"I'm sorry this happened, it's part of the game."
All class from Yair Rodriguez after Brian Ortega's injury at #UFCLongIsland pic.twitter.com/p2fLV7uPDr
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) July 16, 2022
In the time that Ortega has been shelved, Rodriguez has fought twice, earning the interim featherweight title via a second-round submission over Josh Emmett at UFC 284. Five months later, he squared off with Alexander Volkanovski in hopes of trading in his interim belt for undisputed gold. However, Rodriguez succumbed to a third-round TKO against ‘The Great’ at UFC 290.
Despite coming up short in his first true title fight, Yair Rodriguez recognizes that the experience he gained from fighting both Emmett and Volkanovski will prove invaluable as he continues to march forward in his career.
“I think I’ve gained more experience by fighting those two guys,” Rodriguez said. “Especially fighting Volkanovski. It was a great lesson for me. I cannot let anything outside of fighting affect me. That’s probably the biggest thing I learned about that fight. I cannot let anything affect me.”
Yair Rodriguez Believes a Win Over Brian Ortega Will Put Him Back in Line For a UFC Title Opportunity
With another decisive win over Brian Ortega, Rodriguez believes he will be right back in line for a title opportunity, but much of that hinges on how things play out when Alexander Volkanovski defends his title against undefeated contender Ilia Topuria at UFC 298.
“I think it’ll put me right there for the title shot again,” Rodriguez said. “Of course, that would have a lot to do with the Topuria vs. Volkanovski fight. I think that will dictate where the division will go and what fights there are to make. If Volk wins, which I think he will and I win my next fight, I think a rematch could be a potential reality.
“I think Max Holloway is in front of me at the number one spot and I don’t think the UFC will want to go again with that fight. It would be the fourth fight between them, but I don’t know. We’ll see. I’ll be ready.”
Asked who he would rather fight between Volkanovski and Topuria, Rodriguez made it clear that he doesn’t care one way or the other but did note that he sees ‘The Great’ leaving Anaheim with his title intact next month.
“I don’t care,” he said. “Whoever will be fine. I just think that the abilities of Volkanovski are way better than Ilia’s. Ilia is really good, but I don’t think he has what he needs in order for him to win that fight. The only thing I see in that fight is I think Volk too soon coming off a loss. Not only a loss, but a KO.
“I don’t know if he wants to demonstrate to himself that he can do it or whatever, but I would have taken more time to recover.”
Rodriguez also shed some light on the brewing rivalry between himself and Ilia Topuria. Recently, Topuria had made some disparaging comments about Rodriguez’s performance against Volkanovski which caught the attention of ‘El Pantera.’
“He was talking some sh*t about me and my last fight,” Rodriguez said. “He said something about me or whatever and I didn’t want to say anything, but I was scrolling on my Instagram and I saw the video and I thought it was funny. I posted because it’s true. You have to fight against the best fighters. Frankie Edgar. BJ Penn. Max Holloway. All these guys for me to get one title shot. I have to go up down, up down, and they just give him the opportunity.
“But I’m okay with that too because he will have to face me. He’ll have to face Max. He’ll face somebody like Ortega. Then we’ll see what he’s made of.”
Watch the full exclusive interview below:
