An interim featherweight title fight between Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett has been booked for UFC 284 on Feb. 11 from inside the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia. The news was announced during the ESPN+ PPV broadcast of UFC 281 (results HERE).
It was announced earlier Saturday that current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will be moving up in weight to fight lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 as well. In order to keep the featherweight division moving UFC has decided to let Rodriguez and Emmett duke it out for the interim strap.
Rodriguez, 30, is coming off a TKO win over Brian Ortega this past July, but that’s because “T-City” hurt his shoulder early into the contest. Before that, though, Rodriguez has turned in some of the more memorable performances in recent featherweight history and has been waiting a while for his first title shot. This will come in the form of an interim belt, but the veteran needs to take what he can get.
Emmett, 37, has won his last five trips to the cage, including a recent split-decision win over Calvin Kattar this past June. Injuries have slowed Emmett’s featherweight ascension in the past, but he’ll get his chance to hoist UFC gold with a win over Rodriguez.
What say you, Maniacs? Do you agree with the interim featherweight title fight?
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