Yair Rodriguez is riding high after capturing the UFC interim featherweight championship at UFC 284.
With reigning 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski moving up to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title, the UFC established an interim championship which was won by Rodriguez following a second-round submission of Josh Emmett earlier this month. The next task for Rodriguez is unifying the titles in a showdown with Volkanovski who was expected to return to the featherweight division after coming up short in his bid to become a two-division titleholder. However, that may not be the case.
If things go Alexander Volkanovski’s way, he’ll get another crack at Islam Makhachev after the pair delivered a highly entertaining and closely contested 25-minute war in the UFC 284 main event. Should the UFC decide to run back the battle of the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Yair Rodriguez will gladly take the undisputed crown and defend it himself.
A historic night for Yair Rodriguez
@panteraufc l #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/n9FJku3Sbb
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 12, 2023
Yair Rodriguez Will Not Wait Around for Alexander Volkanovski
Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Yair Rodriguez revealed that he has not heard anything from the UFC matchmakers as of yet, but if Alexander Volkanovski isn’t going to return to featherweight, he’ll move on to fighting someone else for 145-pound supremacy.
“Nothing,” Rodriguez said when asked if he had heard anything from the UFC. “I think it’s just too soon to hear something like that. But whatever, at the end of the day, if he decides not to defend the title, that would make me the undisputed champion. Why? Because I’m going to defend the belt against somebody else, and what’s going to happen? I’m going to be the undisputed champion.
“If he decides to come and fight at 145 pounds again, then whoever wins that fight will be the undisputed. So regardless of the situation, it’s one of those situations that are, like, you have to fight again. That’s why I didn’t want to take the Josh Emmett fight, because he’s a beast. You need to be really smart in this game because everybody’s tough in this game, everybody’s tough. … Now, if Alexander Volkanovski decides not to go down to 145 pounds, then I have to fight again to get the undisputed belt.”
Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev delivered a Fight of the Year contender that undeniably left fans wanting more, and many of them crying foul, believing ‘The Great’ did more than enough to deliver an upset and snatch the 155-pound title. Verdict, the popular fan-scoring app, also confirmed that fans around the world had Volkanovski winning the bout by a fair margin. Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan agreed, publicly stating that he saw it in favor of Volkanovski.
With fans and fighters seemingly split down the middle, a rematch between the two pound-for-pound titans would be an easy sell for the UFC. Unfortunately, doing so will leave some high-ranking lightweights along with Yair Rodriguez waiting for their time in the main event spotlight.