Before he moved on to thinking about a future title unification bout against Alexander Volkanovski, Yair Rodriguez took a moment to encourage Josh Emmett following their bout in the UFC 284 co-headliner.
Rodriguez was impressive in victory, as he survived being rocked early to author a complete performance that was capped off by a triangle choke submission 4:19 into the second stanza. At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, “El Pantera” shared what he said to Emmett during their Octagon exchange in the immediate aftermath.
“This is a really important moment for us, and when I finished the triangle, I could see in his expression the desperation of like, ‘F—k, I lost,’” Rodriguez said. “It’s like he saw his opportunity go away, but I just wanted to say to him, ‘No.’ I told him, ‘No, No. Hey, no. Stop that thinking that you have right now. You’re a warrior. You will overcome this. You got this.’
“So the only thing I could say to him was, ‘You’re a warrior, brother.’ We find a way to stand up every time we fall to the ground. So I am sure he will do that, and stay strong, and I’m sure we’ll see each other in the future. So stay strong brother.”
Rodriguez himself has endured adversity throughout his MMA career, including losses to the likes of Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway that slowed his path to the top of the division.
“Those are like the demons that you have to fight every single day of your life, the what-ifs,” he said. “What if I can’t, what if I don’t, what if this happens? Some of those things never become true, so the only thing you can do is live your life the best way possible, avoiding the most mistakes you can, and do the best you can. And stop thinking that. With that said, I’ve been learning to fight my demons every single day and winning over them.”
The result of those efforts is an interim title and a future showdown with Volkanovski, who suffered a narrow loss to Islam Makhachev in the main event. Rodriguez doesn’t think Volkanovski’s stock suffered at all in defeat.
“He’s fighting for the 155-pound division [title] against Islam Makhachev — he’s not fighting a nobody,” Rodriguez said. “Islam is tough. We’ve seen the Russian guys fighting in this company, they’re super tough, and he was able to go in there and demonstrate that he’s capable of also winning, because the fight was pretty close.
“It was three rounds to two. I think he did a pretty good job. I just think the fight between he and I will be as it has to be. He will be there 100 percent — I don’t see why not — and I’ll be there 100 percent.”
Rodriguez sees Volkanovski as a well-rounded champion and expects that their matchup will primarily be contested on the feet.
“I think he’s quick, I think he’s explosive and has pretty good wrestling and jiu-jitsu defense,” Rodriguez said. “So I think the fight between he and I will stay standing up. It will be more of a striking fight. Everything comes down to who does a better strategy and who’s able to maintain the strategy that’s working and adjust when it’s not working.”
It’s currently unclear when a Volkanovski-Rodriguez clash might occur. However, since Volkanovski lost to Makhachev, it seems more likely that the Aussie will return his focus to the featherweight division. In an ideal world, Rodriguez would like to face Volkanovski in his home country.
“Yeah, that would be perfect,” Rodriguez said. “I actually talked to Alexander Volkanovski in the past in Dallas – actually not that much with him, more his manager – and he asked me if I’d go to Australia. I was like, ‘Yeah, why not. Of course, I’ll go.’ I stick to my word. I came here and won the interim title, and now I want to ask the UFC to take this belt, this championship fight to Mexico City in September whenever they open the UFC Performance Institute, so we can do it there.”
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