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Yair Rodriguez prepping for title shot after win at UFC Mexico City
Yair Rodriguez has a few choice words for new UFC champion Ilia Topuria. At UFC 298 this past Saturday, Topuria did what he said he would against Alexander Volkanovski, finishing the ‘Great’ within two rounds.
Immediately after his fight with Volkanovski, the conversation switched to who should Topuria defend against when he returns to the Octagon. Well, according to ‘El Matador,’ there are a few options because ‘the division really sucks’.
“Right now? Nobody,” said Topuria during his post-fight interview on ESPN. “The division really sucks. We need new challengers. We need a couple more fighters in the division. So we’re going to see what happens in the future and hopefully we’re going to have some clear challenger. But, right now there is nobody.”
Rodriguez disagrees.
Rodriguez vows to ‘f—k up’ Ilia Topuria
Ahead of his rematch against Brian Ortega at UFC Mexico City this Saturday, Yair Rodriguez gave his thoughts on a potential fight against Ilia Topuria. If everything goes well, ‘El Pantera’ wants Topuria next.
“I would love to f—k him up,” said Rodriguez during his media day ahead of UFC Mexico City. “I don’t want to fight him. I want to f—k him up. There is a f—king big difference in that. Just to make that clear. And anywhere I see him, I would f—k him up.
“F—k this b—h,” continued Rodriguez. “I don’t f—king like him.”
Rodriguez explains disdain for Topuria
Though usually respectful of opponents, Yair Rodriguez could not hide his disdain for Ilia Topuria, especially after some recent comments from the champion. When Topuria was still a challenger, he said he would ignore names such as Max Holloway, Rodriguez and Ortega for his first defense.
“Max, Yair, Brian Ortega, all of them, they can go and retire,” said Topuria during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “I’m never going to give them the chance to fight for the title — never.”
Instead Topuria would prefer to fight Conor McGregor, the ex-UFC champion. That drew the ire of Rodriguez, who deemed Topuria ‘delusional’.
“I never gave a f—k about the guy until he started f—king talking s—t about me,” said Rodriguez on The MMA Hour. “I didn’t really pay attention to him, but this is the name of the sport. You talk about somebody that is better known than you in the sport, and then you start becoming more known. That’s what he’s doing. Let’s be honest about this, because this is not a secret.
“He will talk s—t about whoever. He’s mentioning Canelo, he’s mentioning McGregor, why do you think he’s doing that? It’s marketing,” continued Rodriguez. “He will never get to fight somebody like McGregor, he will never get to face somebody like Canelo. Of course not.”