Yair Rodriguez News

Yair Rodriguez thinks he was doing well before Brian Ortega's injury: "I kind of saw him wobbling"
Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 17, 2022
Yair Rodriguez believes he was having success against Brian Ortega before the unfortunate end to their bout. Yair and Ortega shared the Octagon inside UBS Arena on Long Island, NY this past Saturday (July 16). This was a highly-anticipated featherweight collision that was action-packed for as long as it lasted.

UFC Long Island Bonus Report: Matt Schnell one of eight fighters to receive a bonus
Chris Taylor - July 16, 2022
The Octagon returned to New York for today’s UFC Long Island event, a twelve-bout fight card headlined by Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez. Tonight’s main event did not make it out of the opening round. After an entertaining opening couple of minutes, Yair Rodriquez went for an armbar submission. It appeared that Brian Ortega was fighting out of the hold when suddenly his shoulder popped. The injury resulted in the fight being stopped and ‘El Pantera’ was named victor by way of injury TKO.

Pros react after Yair Rodriguez defeats Brian Ortega at UFC Long Island
Chris Taylor - July 16, 2022
Today’s UFC Long Island event was headlined by a key men’s featherweight contest between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez. Ortega (15-3 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since suffering a unanimous decision loss to reigning featherweight kingpin Alex Volkanovki at UFC 266. That setback was of course preceded by a decision win over The Korean Zombie in October of 2020.

UFC Long Island Results: Yair Rodriguez defeats Brian Ortega via TKO (Video)
Chris Taylor - July 16, 2022
Today’s UFC Long Island event is headlined by a key men’s featherweight contest featuring Brian Ortega taking on Yair Rodriguez. Ortega (15-2 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since suffering a unanimous decision loss to reigning featherweight kingpin Alex Volkanovki at UFC 266. That setback was preceded by a decision win over The Korean Zombie in October of 2020.

Brian Ortega explains why he didn’t want to fight Yair Rodriguez
Cole Shelton - July 14, 2022
Brian Ortega didn’t want to be fighting Yair Rodriguez at UFC Long Island. The two are set to headline the card where the winner could get the next featherweight title shot. However, for Ortega, he says this is a fight he didn’t want due to the fact he and Rodriguez are friends given their Mexican heritage, and admits he didn’t want this fight to happen.

Yair Rodriguez reacts to Zabit Magomedsharipov’s retirement from MMA: “There was a lot of things between him and I that was said”
Susan Cox - July 14, 2022
Yair Rodriguez has weighed in on Zabit Magomedsharipov’s retirement from MMA. Zabit (18-1 MMA) has not been in the Octagon since November of 2019, when he fought and defeated Calvin Kattar (23-6 MMA) by unanimous decision. The Russian’s only career loss was back in 2013 when he went down to defeat against Igor Egorov (13-8 MMA).

Pro fighters make their picks for Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez
Cole Shelton - July 14, 2022
In the main event of UFC Long Island, a pivotal featherweight scrap headlines the card as top-three featherweights collide as Brian Ortega takes on Yair Rodriguez. Heading into the fight, Ortega is a -180 favorite while the Mexican is a +140 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority of pros are leaning towards Ortega getting his hand raised and likely doing it by submission.

Yair Rodriguez believes "it’s going to be important to have a really good strategy and stick to it" against Brian Ortega at UFC Long Island
Cole Shelton - July 13, 2022
Yair Rodriguez knows Brian Ortega will be a tough out at UFC Long Island on Saturday. Rodriguez and Ortega are set to headline the card in a pivotal fight for the featherweight division as the winner could get a title shot. Although the Mexican is coming off a loss to Max Holloway last time out, he says that fight taught him a lot including having a good strategy.

Brian Ortega opens as a slight favorite over Yair Rodriguez in UFC Long Island main event
Cole Shelton - June 2, 2022
Brian Ortega has opened as a slight favorite over Yair Rodriguez for their July 16 UFC Long Island main event. Ortega and Rodriguez are set to meet on July 16 live on ABC in a crucial fight for the featherweight division. The winner could very well get a title shot and on paper, it seems like a close fight and the oddsmakers seem to agree. On Thursday, the opening odds were revealed and it saw Ortega as a slight -150 favorite with Rodriguez as a +130 underdog.

Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez officially booked for UFC Long Island main event
Cole Shelton - May 26, 2022
Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez has finally been booked. After months of talks that the UFC was targeting the featherweight fight, the promotion announced on Twitter on Thursday that Ortega vs. Rodriguez is set to headline a Fight Night card on July 16. The event will also take place at the UBS Arena on Long Island.

UFC reportedly targeting Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez
Cole Shelton - February 15, 2022
A phenomenal featherweight bout between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez is in the works. According to MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani, the UFC is hoping to book a fight between Ortega and Rodriguez for a date TBD. It’s uncertain if the fight will be a main event of a Fight Night card or on a pay-per-view, but all signs point to Ortega facing Rodriguez next.

Alex Volkanovski responds to “annoying” callout from Yair Rodriguez: “It just blows me away. You’re coming off a loss”
Harry Kettle - January 19, 2022
UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski has responded to the recent callout he’s received from Yair Rodriguez. While he may be preparing to defend his 145-pound title against The Korean Zombie at UFC 273, Alex Volkanovski can’t seem to shake off the other contenders who feel as if they should’ve been the ones to get a shot at the gold. Giga Chikadze is one example, with another being the always-vocal Yair Rodriguez.

Max Holloway praises Yair Rodriguez following war at UFC Vegas 42: "Looking forward to your championship reign one day"
Adam D Martin - November 16, 2021
Max Holloway praised Yair Rodriguez following war at UFC Vegas 42, saying that he’s “looking forward to your championship reign one day.” Holloway and Rodriguez went toe-to-toe for five rounds in an all-out war that headlined this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 42 card. It was one of the best fights of the year, but at the end of the five rounds, Holloway was the winner via unanimous decision. However, it was one of those fights where the stock of both men went up. For Holloway, it could be the win that earns him another title shot at 145lbs, while for Rodriguez this performance should be enough to keep him ranked in the top-five at 145lbs. Overall, it was just an amazing fight.

What's next for Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez after UFC Vegas 42?
Cole Shelton - November 15, 2021
In the main event of UFC Vegas 42, top-three featherweights collided as Max Holloway took on Yair Rodriguez in a highly-anticipated fight. Holloway entered the fight coming off a five-round dominant decision win over Calvin Kattar where he landed 445 significant strikes. Prior to that, he suffered back-to-back decision losses to Alexander Volkanovski to lose his featherweight title. Yair Rodriguez, meanwhile, hadn’t fought since 2019 due to a USADA suspension and injures but was coming off a decision win over Jeremy Stephens.

Photo | Yair Rodriguez’s right foot was an absolute mess following his fight with Max Holloway
Adam D Martin - November 14, 2021
UFC featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez showed off his right foot that was an absolute mess following his fight with Max Holloway. Rodriguez and Holloway went toe-to-toe in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 42 event. It was an absolute war of a fight between two of the best featherweights in the world, but at the end of the 25 minutes, it was Holloway who got his hand raised by unanimous decision. Still, it was an amazing fight by both men, and despite losing the fight on his record, Rodriguez’s stock will likely go up after putting on such a great performance.

Chael Sonnen critical of Max Holloway's performance at UFC Vegas 42: "He got blessed by being a pain in the ass"
Christopher Taylor - November 13, 2021
Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen was not impressed with Max Holloway’s performance against Yair Rodriguez. Holloway (23-6 MMA), the UFC’s former featherweight champion, was returning to action on Saturday for the first time since laying a beating on Calvin Kattar back in January. ‘Blessed’ had gone just 2-3 over his past five fights.

Yair Rodriguez reacts following loss to Max Holloway at UFC Vegas 42: "I’ll move forward from this as soon as possible"
Christopher Taylor - November 13, 2021
Yair Rodriguez returned from a two-year hiatus to face former featherweight champion Max Holloway in today’s UFC Vegas 42 main event. Rodriguez (13-3 MMA) had most previously competed in October of 2019, where he earned a unanimous decision victory over veteran Jeremy Stephens.

Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez link up in ambulance following UFC Vegas 42 (Video)
Christopher Taylor - November 13, 2021
Former featherweight champion Max Holloway squared off with perennial contender Yair Rodriguez in today’s UFC Vegas 42 main event. Holloway (23-6 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since laying a beating on Calvin Kattar back in January. That win was of course preceded by back-to-back losses to reigning featherweight champ Alex Volkanovski.