Tag: Yair Rodriguez

BJ Penn: Fight With Yair Rodriguez Is ‘Not Difficult At All’

Legendary former UFC lightweight and former UFC welterweight champion BJ “The Prodigy” Penn is set to make his return to action against rising prospect Yair Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night Phoenix on Jan. 15, 2015. Penn hasn’t competed since retiring in 2014 and he hasn’t won a fight since 2010. Initially, many had felt as

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Legendary former UFC lightweight and former UFC welterweight champion BJ “The Prodigy” Penn is set to make his return to action against rising prospect Yair Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night Phoenix on Jan. 15, 2015. Penn hasn’t competed since retiring in 2014 and he hasn’t won a fight since 2010.

Initially, many had felt as if Penn should’ve been booked against a fighter in a similar situation him as opposed to a 24-year-old surging contender, but “The Prodigy” doesn’t feel as if the bout is ‘difficult at all’:

“So, what you’re saying is when I make this look easy on Jan. 15, I’m the f—— man, is that what you’re telling me?” said Penn, on ESPN’s 5ive Rounds podcast.

“It’s not a difficult [fight] at all. He’s a very good guy, but I feel like I’m training with very good guys. I have a good team around me and I don’t feel anything is anywhere near out of my league.”

Penn will be competing in the 145-pound division upon his return and he said that this decision was made based off of the fact the he has his eyes set on a third world title in a third different weight class:

“There’s more opportunity for me to get three UFC belts at 145 than going to 185,” Penn said. “I already feel really confident nobody will be able to get the 155- and 170-pound belts. I want to get one more world title. Three titles at three weight classes, and without a doubt 145 is my best option.”

In order to accomplish this goal, Penn has relocated from his native Hawaii to New Mexico to train under the tutelage of highly-touted trainer Greg Jackson. Aside from his plan to add another title to his trophy case, Penn said that he’s returning simply because he ‘missed’ fighting:

“I just like fighting again,” Penn said. “Standing in front of people, sparring every day, punching people, getting into a fist fight every morning. I missed it. I can’t live without it right now. While I can still lift my arms up and do sprints, all these things, this is what I want to do. This is what I love to do. This is the best way I know how to make an honest living.”

What are you expecting from “The Prodigy” next month?

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BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguez Headlines UFC Fight Night Phoenix

UFC legend and two-time champion BJ Penn has his next fight lined up, and it’s going to be against a top prospect. Penn was supposed to make his big MMA return at UFC Fight Night 97 in October against Ricardo Lamas. However, Penn has suffered an injury in training and pulled out of the bout

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UFC legend and two-time champion BJ Penn has his next fight lined up, and it’s going to be against a top prospect. Penn was supposed to make his big MMA return at UFC Fight Night 97 in October against Ricardo Lamas. However, Penn has suffered an injury in training and pulled out of the bout and caused the event to be canceled.

Penn will now fight Yair Rodriguez in the main event of the UFC Fight Night Phoenix event in January in a featherweight bout.

Penn will compete for the first time since July 2014. Penn is no doubt an MMA legend as he has won UFC titles in multiple divisions and he won his fight title in 2004 as a welterweight. He won the lightweight title in 2008. He holds a pro-MMA record of 16-10-2 record coming into the fight. Rodriguez, on the other hand, is on a seven fight winning streak and holds a 9-1 pro-MMA record. He has earned Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night bonuses in three of his last four bouts.

The event takes place on Sunday, January 15th at the talking Stick Resort Arena, which marks the first time that the UFC has held an event in the city since 2013. Tickets go on sale next month, and the main card will air on FOX Sports 1.

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BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguez Announced For 1/15 In Phoenix

Don’t hold your breath just yet!

BJ Penn now has his fourth different opponent for his UFC comeback fight, as UFC announced BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguez as the headline bout for their upcoming return to Phoenix.

UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Penn …

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Don’t hold your breath just yet!

BJ Penn now has his fourth different opponent for his UFC comeback fight, as UFC announced BJ Penn vs. Yair Rodriguez as the headline bout for their upcoming return to Phoenix.

UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Penn was announced on Monday afternoon for Sunday, January 15, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Penn had previously been scheduled for returns against Dennis Siver, Cole Miller and Ricardo Lamas before issues with USADA and a legal issue regarding a potential domestic situation kept him from stepping back into the Octagon.

Tickets for UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Penn go on sale starting December 2nd at UFC.com/Phoenix

UFC Rankings Update: Jon Jones’ Removal Causes Pound-For-Pound Shift

The UFC’s removal of former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones from the official rankings has caused a sizable shift in the pound-for-pound list. As he awaits his punishment for a potential USADA anti-doping violation that forced him out of his UFC 200 main event with Daniel Cormier, Jones’ absence on the list that he ruled

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The UFC’s removal of former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones from the official rankings has caused a sizable shift in the pound-for-pound list.

As he awaits his punishment for a potential USADA anti-doping violation that forced him out of his UFC 200 main event with Daniel Cormier, Jones’ absence on the list that he ruled for several years boosted every fighter from No. 4 Conor McGregor down to No. 14 T.J. Dillashaw up a spot, while also allowing featherweight rival Frankie Edgar to re-debut at No. 15.

“Bones” absence from the 205-pound ranks moved everyone from No. 1 Anthony “Rumble” Johnson to No. 13 Patrick Cummins up a spot, and also allowed Misha Cirkunov to debut at No. 14.

There was also a UFC event last weekend, with touted featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez outlasting Alex Caceres in the main event of the UFC’s Utah debut of UFC Fight Night 92. For the win, Rodriguez moved up to spots to No. 11, forcing Darren Elkins and Dooho Choi downs to the Nos. 12 and 13 spots, respectively.

At middleweight, Yoel Romero moved up an alarming 11 spots to No. 4 after his USADA suspension ended, pushing Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva, Robert Whittaker, and Gegard Mousasi down to the No. 5-8 spots.

Here are the full updated rankings from UFC.com:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Daniel Cormier
4 Conor McGregor +1
5 Jose Aldo +1
6 Eddie Alvarez +1
7 Joanna Jedrzejczyk +1
8 Stipe Miocic +1
9 Tyron Woodley +1
10 Michael Bisping +1
11 Robbie Lawler +1
12 Rafael Dos Anjos +1
13 Luke Rockhold +1
14 TJ Dillashaw +1
15 Frankie Edgar *NR

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Kyoji Horiguchi
3 Jussier Formiga
5 Ian McCall
6 Wilson Reis
7 Zach Makovsky
8 Ali Bagautinov
9 Louis Smolka
10 John Moraga
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Dustin Ortiz
13 Justin Scoggins
14 Ray Borg
15 Sergio Pettis

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Dominick Cruz
1 TJ Dillashaw
2 Urijah Faber
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Bryan Caraway
5 John Lineker
6 Aljamain Sterling
7 Michael McDonald
8 Cody Garbrandt
9 John Dodson
10 Thomas Almeida
11 Takeya Mizugaki
12 Eddie Wineland
13 Jimmie Rivera
14 Johnny Eduardo
15 Frankie Saenz

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Jose Aldo (Interim Champion)
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Max Holloway
4 Ricardo Lamas
5 Cub Swanson
6 Charles Oliveira
7 Jeremy Stephens
8 Dennis Bermudez
9 Brian Ortega
10 Hacran Dias
11 Yair Rodriguez +2
12 Darren Elkins -1
13 Dooho Choi -1
14 Mirsad Bektic +1
15 Tatsuya Kawajiri -1

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Eddie Alvarez
1 Khabib Nurmagomedov
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Tony Ferguson
4 Nate Diaz
5 Edson Barboza
6 Donald Cerrone
7 Anthony Pettis
8 Dustin Poirier
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Michael Johnson
11 Beneil Dariush
12 Will Brooks
13 Al Iaquinta
14 Gilbert Melendez
15 Rashid Magomedov

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Robbie Lawler
2 Stephen Thompson
3 Rory MacDonald
4 Demian Maia
5 Carlos Condit
6 Kelvin Gastelum
7 Neil Magny
8 Johny Hendricks
9 Rick Story
10 Dong Hyun Kim
11 Gunnar Nelson
12 Matt Brown
13 Tarec Saffiedine
14 Donald Cerrone
15 Jake Ellenberger

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Michael Bisping
1 Luke Rockhold
2 Chris Weidman
3 Jacare Souza
4 Yoel Romero +11
5 Vitor Belfort -1
6 Anderson Silva -1
7 Robert Whittaker -1
8 Gegard Mousasi -1
9 Uriah Hall
10 Derek Brunson
11 Thales Leites +1
12 Dan Henderson +1
12 Tim Kennedy -1
14 Rafael Natal
15 Thiago Santos *NR

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Anthony Johnson +1
2 Glover Teixeira +1
3 Alexander Gustafsson +1
4 Ryan Bader +1
5 Ovince Saint Preux +1
6 Mauricio Rua +1
7 Rashad Evans +1
8 Jimi Manuwa +1
9 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira +1
10 Nikita Krylov +1
11 Corey Anderson +1
12 Ilir Latifi +1
13 Patrick Cummins +1
14 Misha Cirkunov *NR
15 Gian Villante

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Fabricio Werdum
2 Cain Velasquez
3 Alistair Overeem
4 Junior Dos Santos
5 Ben Rothwell
6 Andrei Arlovski
7 Travis Browne
8 Mark Hunt +1
9 Josh Barnett +1
10 Derrick Lewis +1
11 Roy Nelson +1
12 Ruslan Magomedov +3
13 Stefan Struve +1
14 Francis Ngannou *NR
15 Antonio Silva *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Claudia Gadelha
2 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
3 Carla Esparza
4 Rose Namajunas
5 Tecia Torres
6 Jessica Andrade
7 Joanne Calderwood
8 Valerie Letourneau
9 Maryna Moroz
10 Paige VanZant
11 Michelle Waterson
12 Jessica Penne
13 Randa Markos +1
14 Jessica Aguilar -1
15 Juliana Lima

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Miesha Tate
2 Ronda Rousey
3 Valentina Shevchenko
4 Holly Holm
5 Julianna Pena
6 Cat Zingano
7 Sara McMann
8 Liz Carmouche
8 Raquel Pennington
10 Jessica Eye
11 Bethe Correia
12 Germaine de Randamie
13 Ashlee Evans-Smith
14 Katlyn Chookagian
15 Marion Reneau

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Yair Rodriguez Avoids Major Injury After Visiting Hospital

Rising featherweight Yair Rodriguez picked up his biggest UFC win when he edged Alex Caceres in the main event of last night’s UFC Fight 92 (watch full video highlights here) from Vivint SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, and he also got his toughest test in the Octagon thus far as well. The flashy 23-year-old

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Rising featherweight Yair Rodriguez picked up his biggest UFC win when he edged Alex Caceres in the main event of last night’s UFC Fight 92 (watch full video highlights here) from Vivint SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, and he also got his toughest test in the Octagon thus far as well.

The flashy 23-year-old used his full arsenal of lightning-fast spinning kicks and strikes, and while they were certainly effective from ‘El Pantera,’ the more experienced ‘Bruce Leeroy’ was able to weather the early storm to arguably win a pair of later rounds on the judges’ cards. It could be argued that Caceres was in position to win the bout heading into the fifth and final round of both fighters’ first main event, but a lack of activity ultimately lead to a split decision victory for Rodriguez after one judge somehow scored it 49-46 for Caceres.

Yet the win, which earned $50,000 apiece for Rodriguez and Caceres as “Fight of the Night,” didn’t come without its lumps for the budding Mexican star, as Rodriguez was reportedly sent to the hospital to have both hand and foot injuries examined last night. Thankfully, ‘El Pantera’ avoided any serious injury, as UFC Vice President of Public Relations Dave Sholler detailed that he had no broken bones and only received some stitches on his hand in an email to MMA Junkie:

“Yair was discharged earlier this morning. X-rays and scans on potential foot and hand injuries came back negative. He did receive stitches for a cut.”

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That’s music to the ears of the UFC, because with seemingly every champion getting knocked out or submitted in the first round, the promotion is going to need each and every young star they can get after the company was sold for a record $4 billion to media group WME-IMG in July.

Rodriguez is obviously one of their best and brightest young fighters, as he not only possesses a unique and unparalleled blend of striking speed, skill, and creativity, but also the key to the vast, fight-crazed Mexican market the UFC has been coveting for many years. “El Pantera” could become the star that they’ve been looking for from that part of the world, and even he was a bit wild when his gas tank ran out a bit in the early championship rounds last night, he’s emerged with a win and relatively unscathed.

It will probably be best if the UFC continues bringing him up slowly rather than throwing him to the many wolves that populate the top rungs of the UFC’s talented featherweight division, especially the grueling wrestlers. Who would you like to see the TUF Latin America winner face next?

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Video: Yair Rodriguez vs. Alex Caceres Full Fight Highlights From UFN 92

https://youtu.be/u8MKvBEwb7A

For those who missed it, up-and-coming UFC contender Yair Rodriguez kept his unbeaten streak in tact, as he picked up a decision victory over Alex Caceres at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 92 event.

Featured above are “Fu…

rodriguez-caceres-hiighligh

https://youtu.be/u8MKvBEwb7A

For those who missed it, up-and-coming UFC contender Yair Rodriguez kept his unbeaten streak in tact, as he picked up a decision victory over Alex Caceres at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 92 event.

Featured above are “Full Fight Highlights” of the Rodriguez-Caceres bout, which served as the main event for the UFC’s first ever event in Salt Lake City, Utah.

For complete UFC Fight Night 92 results, click here.