“I’m going to wait”- Yair Rodriguez refuses to compete for an interim title, holding out hope for Alexander Volkanovski clash
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Yair feels that the champion is repeatedly ducking him
Yair Rodriguez recently defeated Brain Ortega at UFC Long Island via a TKO but it wasn’t the win, as Rodríguez would have expected. During the fight, ‘T-City’ suffered a shoulder injury and the fight was stopped immediately.
After that fight, it was expected that Rodríguez would fight Josh Emmett and the winner would get the opportunity to fight Volkanovski next. Emmet is currently on an impressive five fight win streak and is eager to get the title shot.
UFC president Dana White revealed that he is interested in making an interim title fight between Rodríguez and Emmet. He said :
“Volkanovski I think is going to have surgery on his hand. I think there’s something wrong with his hand. … You’re asking if [Rodriguez vs. Emmett for an interim title is] a possibility? I like it. I don’t hate it.”
“It doesn’t make any sense” – Yair Rodríguez reveals the reason behind his lack of interest for an interim title fight
Rodriguez recently appeared during the UFC 277 press conference where he was asked about his next fight and a possible Interim title bout with Josh Emmett. While answering the question, Rodriguez gave a rather surprising response. The Mexican revealed that he has his eyes fixated on the gold and would like to fight Volkanovski. The fighter claimed that if Volkanovski decides to go up to the 155 division, Rodriguez would wait for him to fight.
According to Rodriguez, if he manages to beat Volkanovski as a double champion, it will give the Mexican more credit for his win. Rodríguez clearly stated that he has no plans on fighting Emmet as it doesn’t make sense for him. He is so close to a title shot so he won’t be fighting anybody else rather than Volkanovski.
“What is in my mind right now is fighting Alexander Volkanovski, and that’s always on my mind right now. I’m waiting for him. Hopefully he wins in the 55 so it will be a bigger accomplishment for me whenever I get to fight him, and beat him. Why [would I fight for an interim] when I’m knocking on the door for the title? It doesn’t make any sense. I’m not fighting Josh Emmett, I’m fighting Volkanovski.” said Rodriguez.
It’s quite a message Rodriguez has passed on to UFC for not showing the interest to fight Emmet. However, this might put the fighter in a tough spot considering Emmet and him are currently equally deserving for that title shot. There is no way around without having this number one Contender deciding fight.
Also Read: “I don’t care how you put it”- Yair Rodriguez shoots down the idea of an interim featherweight title
Also Read: “It was not an accident,” Chael Sonnen believes Yair Rodriguez’s win was a submission over Brian Ortega at UFC Long Island
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Soumya Ranjan
(2167 Articles Published)