"This isn't a walk in the park" - Former UFC heavyweight predicts an "awful night" for Mexican fans at UFC 290
Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub discussed the possibility of Mexican fans being devastated by the results of UFC 290.
On Saturday, July 8, UFC 290 will end with two world championship bouts in the flyweight and featherweight divisions. In the co-main event, Brandon Moreno looks to extend his 125-pound title run by avenging his two losses against Alexander Pantoja.
Meanwhile, the main event features Alexander Volkanovski attempting to regain undisputed world champion status at 145 pounds by taking out interim title holder Yair Rodriguez.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Schaub discussed the possibility of Moreno being dethroned by Pantoja:
“I think Brandon Moreno gets it done, I really do. Now that’s saying a lot because Pantoja, the one thing that bothers me on this fight, is Moreno does, when he’s in scrambles, he gives up his back a lot. Pantoja with his jiu-jitsu, and how good he is on the ground, if he even has a glimpse of getting a hold of Moreno’s neck, this one’s over and you have a new world champion from Brazil. Brandon Moreno knows that.”
Schaub continued:
“It’s not so crazy to say that Saturday night at UFC 290 could be an awful night if you’re Mexican… It could be a tough night like Pantoja is no f*cking punk. This isn’t a walk in the park. It’s probably going to go all five rounds, could be super controversial too. They match up very well with each other.”
Moreno and Pantoja first fought in July 2016 on The Ultimate Fighter Season 24, with the latter emerging victorious by a second-round submission. Two years later, they fought again at UFC Fight Night 129, and ‘The Cannibal’ won again, but this time by unanimous decision.
Brendan Schaub believes Yair Rodriguez could also struggle at UFC 290
Yair Rodriguez has a challenging task waiting at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night. Alexander Volkanovski holds an undefeated UFC featherweight record of 11-0, which he plans to extend at UFC 290. With that said, Rodriguez's unpredictability could be a difference-maker.
During the same podcast episode, Brendan Schaub had this to say about Rodriguez potentially having a tough night in his upcoming fight:
“Yair Rodriguez and Alex Volkanovski in the main event, again could be a tough night for Mexican fans, tough, tough night. Very tough night. You could have two Mexicans lose their belt.”
Rodriguez made a statement in the featherweight division, while Volkanovoski attempted to become a two-division UFC champion last time out. ‘El Pantera’ fought Josh Emmett on February 11 for interim featherweight title. After nearly 10 minutes of creative striking and slick grappling, Rodriguez emerged victorious with a second-round submission.
Yair Rodriguez vs Josh Emmett - HD Highlights
Action packed fight for as long as it lasted 🔥🔥 https://t.co/NHVdnyHoLi