5 potential opponents for Yair Rodriguez following his latest victory
Last night’s UFC Fight Night event saw an unfortunate ending to its headline bout, as what looked set to be an exciting fight between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez ended with a shoulder injury to ‘T-City’.
Despite the abrupt ending, Yair Rodriguez was awarded a win over Brian Ortega, meaning that he should, theoretically at least, move up the ladder in the UFC’s featherweight division.
So, who should be next for ‘El Pantera’? There are a number of options on the table for the Mexican, and many of them depend on how his win over Ortega is looked at.
With that in mind, here are five potential opponents for Yair Rodriguez following his latest win.
#5. Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega
The most obvious fight for Yair Rodriguez after the anticlimactic end to last night’s bout would be to run back his fight with Brian Ortega.
After all, nothing was proven in the fight, as neither man dominated the first round prior to Ortega’s shoulder injury, and it’s incredibly hard to say who would’ve won had the bout continued on into the second round and beyond.
However, there is a big problem with attempting to re-book this clash, and that’s the fact that Ortega’s injury might mean that he’s got a lengthy stay on the shelf ahead of him. Shoulder injuries tend to take time to rehabilitate, and it’s not yet known exactly how badly hurt ‘T-City’ is.
If Ortega is out for more than six months, then it might make more sense to move Rodriguez on, purely because he took no real damage last night and therefore it’d be unfair to waste his time waiting.
However, if ‘T-City’ is ready to return before the end of 2022, then there’s no reason why the UFC couldn’t just run back his fight with Rodriguez. After all, the promotion’s entire fanbase was salivating over the fight, so why not give it to them again?
#4. Yair Rodriguez vs. Bryce Mitchell
Due to the nature of his win over Brian Ortega, the UFC may choose not to give Yair Rodriguez an instant title shot and instead book him against one of the many contenders in the featherweight division.
One fighter who would definitely make a fascinating opponent for ‘El Pantera’, even if he’s ranked a few spots below him right now, is Bryce Mitchell.
‘Thug Nasty’ cracked the 145lbs top ten earlier this year thanks to an impressive win over Edson Barboza, and he’s unbeaten not just in the UFC at 6-0, but in MMA overall with a record of 15-0.
Bryce Mitchell was a perfect 4-for-4 on takedowns against Edson Barboza. Tied for the most Barboza ever gave up.
For context, it took Khabib Nurmagomedov 13 attempts to get four takedowns on Barboza up at 155.
Bryce also had almost a minute more control time than Khabib. https://t.co/V1Lr3ciR3p
That alone makes him one of the fastest-rising prospects in the division, but more importantly, with an ever evolving striking game and a genuinely dangerous grappling arsenal, he could well be compared to Ortega.
A bout between Mitchell and Rodriguez, therefore, could produce the same kind of fireworks that ‘El Pantera’ hoped to produce against ‘T-City’. Would it be a fight to elevate Rodriguez? Perhaps not, but if the UFC can put it together, then it’d definitely be worth watching.
#3. Yair Rodriguez vs. Arnold Allen
Another unbeaten fighter currently competing in the UFC’s featherweight division is Arnold Allen, and given that he’s currently unbeaten in the octagon at 9-0, he’d definitely make for a worthy opponent for Yair Rodriguez if the promotion chooses not to give him a title fight.
Due to his largely stoic nature and lack of trash-talking abilities, Allen has flown under the radar somewhat throughout his tenure with the UFC. However, he has one of the best records in the division, with big wins over the likes of Gilbert Melendez, Nik Lentz and Dan Hooker.
#UFCLondonAllen stunned Hooker then went OFF 😤 #UFCLondon https://t.co/d3W64rNx30
A fight between ‘Almighty’ and Rodriguez would have the potential to be fantastic, as both men possess excellent skills in all areas, with ‘El Pantera’ being more wild and Allen more technical, but no less dangerous.
Overall, it’d be hard to decide who to favor in this clash, and the winner could definitely go on to fight for the featherweight title in the near future.
#2. Yair Rodriguez vs. Josh Emmett
While the winner of Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega was largely expected to fight for the UFC featherweight title in their next bout, the other fighter currently looking for a title shot in the division is Josh Emmett.
Emmett is currently ranked at joint No. 3 with Rodriguez, and has put together a winning run of five bouts, including victories over Michael Johnson, Shane Burgos and most recently, Calvin Kattar. More importantly, he has not lost since early 2018.
Nothing but respect after 5 HARD-FOUGHT ROUNDS! 👏👏 #UFCAustin https://t.co/uPH38q12f8
While it’s true that Emmett doesn’t have the kind of personality and charisma that usually draws the fans in, it’s hard to overlook his exciting fighting style, as he throws every punch with brutal power and always looks to knock his opponents out.
With Ortega now on the shelf, it could make sense for the UFC to give champ Alexander Volkanovski a break for the time being and book a top contender’s fight between Emmett and Rodriguez to decide his next challenger, rather than overlook one of them entirely.
#1. Yair Rodriguez vs. Alexander Volkanovski
As was previously mentioned, last night’s fight between Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega was widely expected to produce the next challenger for UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Therefore, why not simply go with the original plan?
Sure, Rodriguez didn’t exactly pick up a clean win over ‘T-City’ as the fight was halted prematurely due to the latter suffering a serious shoulder injury, but he still got his hand raised, and is still probably the most intriguing opponent out there for ‘The Great’.
‘El Pantera’ holds wins over Chan Sung Jung, Jeremy Stephens and BJ Penn, pushed Max Holloway to the limit, has only ever lost twice and has the ability to take out any opponent at any given moment.
While it’s unlikely that anyone would favor him to beat Volkanovski, stranger things have happened in the octagon, and it’d be fascinating to see how the Australian deals with the wild attacks that would likely come his way.
Therefore, given that Ortega is likely to be on the shelf for a while to rehabilitate his shoulder, the UFC should push ahead with a Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez title bout as their most logical option.
Yair Rodriguez's "ideal" next fight would be Alexander Volkanovski but he's open to an interim title with Josh Emmett.
Full interview: bit.ly/3AVz65n https://t.co/WJqmIOi328