Jump to
Joe Rogan is a fan of Yair Rodríguez. The interim UFC featherweight champion returns to the Octagon for a unification against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 290, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for July 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Though the event features several exciting fights, such as Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja and Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis, the one Rogan is most excited for is Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez.
Joe Rogan praises Yair Rodríguez
During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the UFC commentator watched a series of highlights from Rodriguez, who has delivered wild finishes of Andre Fili, B.J. Penn and Chan Sung Jung throughout his UFC career. To Joe Rogan, ‘El Pantera’ is a threat everywhere.
“Look at that, Alexander Volkanovski versus Yair Rodríguez,” said Rogan. “Have you seen Yair Rodríguez fight? Yair Rodríguez is one of the wildest motherf—kers that’s ever fought in MMA. Yair has some of the craziest kicks. He’s got this Taekwondo background, but he does all this wild shit. He hit BJ Penn with a 360 roundhouse kick.
“Look at this motherf—ker,” continued Rogan. “He kicked him with the right and then in the air hits him with a left. He’s a beast. He’s so dynamic. His striking — and on the ground. He finished Josh Emmett with a triangle in his last fight. On the ground, he’s nasty. He is f—king wicked. He’s wicked and he’s really hard to figure out because everything he does is different than anything [anyone has done]…f—king genius.”
Though Rogan and Alexander Volkanovski agree Rodríguez is one of the most dynamic fighters in the promotion, the UFC commentator still sees him having a tough time with the reigning UFC featherweight champion. At this time, the only fighter to defeat Volkanovski in the Octagon is Islam Makhachev, who won a unanimous decision at UFC 284 this past February.
“Volkanovski is the baddest motherf—ker alive,” said Rogan. “That fight is incredible. But Volkanovski is pound-for-pound No. 1 in my eyes. He lost to Islam Makhachev, very, very close fight. Barely lost. I thought he edged him, but it was a very, very good fight. And then you look at Volkanovski at 145, and he’s just unprecedented. He storms the gates.”
Yair Rodríguez: I need to ‘work on‘ holes in my game to beat Volkanovski
Going up against a pound-for-pound great in Volkanovski is indeed a challenge, but it is one Rodríguez is ready to face head on. Of course, his dynamism is one of his primary weapons, but the Mexican fighter says he more are in store for the City Kickboxing product.
“I start visualizing the pros and cons of doing things that I do, stop doing some stuff, start doing some other stuff without saying anything specific,” said Rodríguez on an episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “It’s just a matter of strategy. At the highest level, I think it’s just a matter of strategy, who can pull out the best strategy.
“He doesn’t have many holes in his game, he’s really good, he’s well-rounded,” continued Rodríguez. “I have a lot of holes in my game that I need to work on. I can’t be focusing too much on him. The focus has to be on myself, to get better. Myself. If I can do that, then I’ll become a better version of myself. A version that can beat Volkanovski.”
Thank you for reading this article. Please consider subscribing to the Bloody Elbow Substack to enjoy our daily premium content. Your paid subscriptions are helping build our new site and keeping hope alive that our staff will remain intact. If you haven’t already, please pledge with a paid subscription today.
Join the new Bloody Elbow
Our Substack is where we feature the work of writers like Zach Arnold, John Nash and Karim Zidan. We’re fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. Please help us by subscribing today.
About the author
