Yair Rodriguez News

Zain Bando - August 1, 2022

UFC featherweight contender, Yair Rodriguez, was having the time of his life during the UFC 277 co-main event between Brandon Moreno and Kai-Kara France this past weekend. The UFC interim flyweight title bout was closely contested between the division’s top two contenders. While the sold-out American Airlines Center waited for the highly anticipated rematch between Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes to unfold, one fighter was glued to the action in front of him between Moreno and Kara-France. Yair Rodriguez and Brandon Moreno are long-time friends, dating back to the early parts of their career, so Rodriguez’s investment was obvious as he rooted his friend on to victory.

Cole Shelton - August 1, 2022

Yair Rodriguez is only focused on fighting Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title his next time out. Rodriguez returned to the win column last time out as he beat Brian Ortega by first-round TKO due to Ortega’s shoulder popping out. It was a disappointing end to the fight, and after the event added, it was uncertain what would be next for him as Volkanovski is out with a hand injury and has talked about going up to lightweight.

Susan Cox - July 19, 2022

Bryce Mitchell is opening up about fighting Yair Rodriguez, as long as he can get a title shot after he wins. Mitchell, (15-0 MMA), has no losses in his pro career. The 27 year old last fought in March of this year where he defeated Edson Barboza (22-11 MMA) at UFC 272.

Josh Evanoff - July 18, 2022

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is fine with an interim title. ‘The Great’ was last in action against Max Holloway at UFC 276 earlier this month. In the highly-anticipated trilogy fight, Volkanovski dominated ‘Blessed’. The 33-year-old went on to win a lopsided unanimous decision after five rounds.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.