Yair Rodríguez defeated Joshua Emmett in the co-main event of the UFC284. However, Yair did not call out the current number one in the featherweight division Alexander Volkanovski.
UFC 284 featured the main event of Makhachev vs. Volkanovski, which took place at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. As the morning’s co-main event, Yair Rodrguez’s victory over Joshua Emmett in a featherweight bout was a major highlight.
YAIR RODRIGUEZ IS THE INTERIM FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION 🏆 #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/rOktSz9k3o
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 12, 2023
El Pantera was the favorite to win the interim featherweight belt, and he did not disappoint, dominating all over Joshua from the start. The Mexican fighter began the fight in his typical fashion: aggressively, swiftly, and dominantly.
Rodriguez was swift and intimidating, and Joshua never seemed to be at ease against his kicks, resulting in a submission loss for the American fighter. Rodriguez submitted his opponent with a triangle choke to become the world’s new interim featherweight champion.
In 2014, the 30-year-old fighter made his UFC debut, defeating Leonardo Morales in the UFC180. Since then, he won six fights at a stretch in three years. However, following his victory over BJ Penn in 2017, the Mexican MMA fighter went through a hard spell. This is the first time since 2017 that the featherweight fighter has won consecutive bouts.
Rodriguez was victorious over Brian Ortega the previous year, and after a string of consecutive victories, he is now ranked as the number five fighter in his division. At this time, there are three other fighters whom the Mexican could challenge to a fight very soon.
Yair Rodriguez looked INCREDIBLE tonight #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/QIzQfyDaVi
— UFC (@ufc) February 12, 2023
The question is who Yair will fight next, Max Holloway, Arnold Allen, or Alexander Volkanovski? He suffered a defeat against Max prior to his back-to-back win so a rematch is not probably happening anytime soon. The most plausible option was Volkanovski, but he wouldn’t call the Australian. Arnold is set to fight Holloway.
