Yair Rodriguez’s highlight reel can be put up against anybody’s when it comes to ‘Oh my God’-inducing, explosive knockouts.
- There was the roundhouse kick that eviscerated Andre Fili upon impact back in April 2016.
- The fluid head kick and straight right hand combination used to drop BJ Penn with a thud, before pounding him out with furious, unrelenting hammer fists in January 2017.
- And who could forget the mind-numbing up elbow that “El Pantera” dragged from hell to detonate on “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung as a buzzer beater at the 4:59 mark of their five-round war in November 2018?
Think of each knockout being delivered like a Randy Orton RKO out of nowhere. That’s how swiftly they're triggered. Rodriguez pocketed Performance of the Night bonuses for each. To this day, Rodriguez hears about all his highlights. Especially the elbow.
“It’s always something that for sure somebody is going to talk about,” Rodriguez tells DAZN over Zoom in regards to the infamous up elbow.
“I’m ready to move forward. I know it’s a highlight reel or whatever and it was a great KO. But no need to bring it up every time.”
The reason why Rodriguez wants to distinguish himself as more than a dynamic fighter with a penchant for fireworks is what’s currently at stake.
He clashes with Brian Ortega in the headliner of UFC Fight Night card from UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Saturday. Ortega enters the bout as the second-ranked UFC featherweight. Rodriguez is No. 3. Rodriguez believes the winner will put himself in position to step into the Octagon with featherweight world champion Alexander Volkanovski.
“I think the winner of this fight is going to fight for a title real soon,” Rodriguez says.
“I think the fighter who wins this fight deserves the opportunity for a title.”
And that’s where Rodriguez’s fighting style comes back into play. Does he feel the need to produce another highlight victory on this nationally-televised card in order to ensure that the title shot is booked?
Well, the 29-year-old insists that his knockouts and overall fighting style have more to do with the urgency of practicality than delivering eye-popping finishes.
“I want to get out of the Octagon as soon as possible,” Rodriguez explains.
“Why? Because I don’t want to take too much damage.
“There’s nothing personal against my opponent,” he adds.
“It’s something about me more than ‘I want to finish this guy because I want to f—k him up’ or anything like that. I go in there focused and I’m going to try to finish my fight as soon as possible. The only reason why is I want to get out of there with less damage as possible.”
He's coming off a unanimous decision loss to Max Holloway in November. The war garnered Fight of the Night honors — something that Rodriguez wants to consciously trade for Performance of the Night nods instead.
"Every time that I fight five-round fights, I take some damage and I don’t want to be taking that much punches to my body, my bones, broken bones, f—ing broken ribs, real big cut," Rodriguez rattles off. "You don’t see inside your brain. Post-fight injuries or post-career injuries, I don’t want to have too much of that. I want to save my body, so later on in my career and life, I can have a good quality of life."
With that in mind, Rodriguez’s aim for a urgent finish will not be any different Saturday, when he clashes with Ortega, a fighter he has scouted well.
“He’s really dangerous with the submissions but also with the striking,” Rodriguez says of Ortega.
“I think he can be really slick and explosive when it comes to the submissions. He will take advantage of any situation if I slip, if I scramble, he could take advantage of it real quick. I’m not going to put myself in those positions or situations. I’m going to keep the fight simple and solid.”
A win here and Rodriguez could present the most unique challenge to Volkanovski, who’s fresh off a lopsided unanimous decision victory over Holloway in their trilogy bout earlier this month. The champion seemingly gets stronger with each challenge, yet one has to wonder if Rodriguez’s ability to shock opponents with a knockout out of nowhere could be a factor in a fight with Volkanovski.
Rodriguez wonders, too.
“How I’d match up with him? I don’t know,” Rodriguez says, thinking about it for a quick second before reverting his thoughts.
“That’s something we’ll have to see whenever the opportunity comes. But for now my main goal and main focus is on Brian Ortega.”
As they should be. Another highlight, though, and Rodriguez can delve into a more thorough preview for Volkanovski.