Top light heavyweight contender says he owes Yair Rodriguez "an apology" after Josh Emmett win

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith has issued an apology to Yair Rodriguez after admitting his performance against Josh Emmett turned his opinion of the fighter around.

Rodriguez and Emmett went head-to-head at UFC 284 last weekend for the interim featherweight title. Much of the build-up to the fight was about whether or not 'El Pantera' would be able to avoid 'CC0's stunning KO power and whether he would be able to use his creative style to find a finish of his own.

Fans of the Mexican fighter weren't disappointed as he put on one of his best performances to date. Yair Rodriguez was able to avoid and neutralize Josh Emmett's heavy hands and stunned fans by using his creative arsenal to lock in a triangle choke submission for the victory in the second round.

The submission win was Rodriguez's first in the UFC and the first time Emmett had been submitted in his MMA career.

Yair Rodriguez submits Josh Emmett to claim interim featherweight gold 😤 #UFC284 https://t.co/96CEpFEhh4

Looking back on the fight, 'Lionheart' declared himself a new fan of Yair Rodriguez and issued an apology to the 30-year-old for not having appreciated his talent sooner:

"I think I owe Yair an apology to be honest with you...Yair's never moved the needle for me like that, I've never seen him on a card and thought 'oh my god, I can't miss that card'. I don't know why that was...I think maybe he's not been active enough. I think that's been my issue."

He added:

"I didn't think Yair was going to be able to take any hard shots from Emmett and it not change the way that he fought...He didn't do that. It was business as usual."

Catch Smith's comments below [25:00]:

Yair Rodriguez weighs in on title unifcation bout with Alexander Volkanovski

Following the culmination of UFC 284, Yair Rodriguez sat down at the post-fight presser with his brand new interim belt in hand. 'El Pantera' was immediately asked by journalists his thoughts on the main event clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev, as well as a future bout with the Australian

According to Yair Rodriguez, he's already looking forward to his fight with Volkanovski and expects their unification bout to be a striking showdown between the two:

"I think he's quick. I think he's explosive and has pretty good wrestling and jiu-jitsu defense. So, I think the fight between him and I will stay standing up. So, it'll be like more of a striking fight and everything comes down to who does it better that day, who does better striking, who's able to maintain a strategy if it's working and you know, is able to adjust if it's not working. And you know, I can't say much about anything. It's just a matter of who does it better that day," said Yair Rodriguez."

Catch Rodriguez's comments here:

Yair Rodriguez predicts a "striking fight" between himself and Alexander Volkanovski 💥

"Everything comes down to who does better that day, who has a better strategy."

Full #UFC284 scrum ▶️ youtu.be/F-Sku4rkwrw https://t.co/wnCqpCIW7H