Yair Rodriguez News

Justin Golightly - February 21, 2018

We haven’t seen Yair Rodriguez since his lost to Frankie Edgar in the second round in May of last year at UFC 211. After stacking up six-fight win streak — eight if you count his non-UFC wins before signing — suddenly it was back to the drawing board for the hyped prospect. It is a place that Edgar has put many hopeful contenders, what they do once they are sent back there makes a difference in their careers. It seems like Yair Rodriguez is making all the right moves, figuratively and literally. “I’ve been analyzing myself and have come to realizations on what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. I went back home to Mexico, where my family opened a business less than six months ago. I’ve been building some apartment buildings there. I’m just taking some time for myself, and that’s why you haven’t seen me. I just fought Frankie Edgar, who is next to fight for the title. That means something. I was on a six-fight win streak before that. I want to be the f-cking best, and I will show it. I am confident. People around me, who have seen me train, they will tell you. I’m not a f-cking joke.”

Russell Ess - September 26, 2017

Rising UFC featherweight Yair Rodriguez is one of the most entertaining fighters that you will see compete in the Octagon. With his exciting striking capabilities, “El Pantera” has grown a large fan base and many are surely curious as to when we’ll see the Mexico native back in the Octagon. BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor caught up with Rodriguez on Tuesday and asked Yair when fans could expect to see “El Pantera” back in action.

Chris Taylor - September 23, 2017

After 13 months of production, the highly anticipated documentary film El Pantera starring Mexican UFC fighter Yair Rodriguez will be making it’s world premiere at the New York Latino Film Festival Presented by HBO. The film’s premiere will take place on Saturday October 14, 2017 at 6pm at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center in New York City. Tickets will be available to the public for purchase at Cinepolis Chelsea Box Office or by calling 877.987.6487. More information can be found at www.nylatinofilmfestival.com Special thank you to NYLFF founder Calixto Chinchilla for helping make the world premiere of El Pantera possible. EL PANTERA is a documentary film that follows the training camp of MMA star Yair Rodriguez aka El Pantera as he embarks on his journey to become the first ever Mexican born UFC Champion. The film will explore topics such as Rodriguez’s manifestation of the American dream, immigration and the sacrifices a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter makes to become a champion.

Tom Taylor - June 22, 2017

Earlier this year, former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn made his long-awaited return to the Octagon. He did so against red hot featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez. Though Penn fought valiantly, this fight unfortunately didn’t go his way, as he was finished by a volley of second-round Rodriguez strikes.

Tom Taylor - May 14, 2017

Last night, on the main card of the stacked UFC 211, red hot featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez faced the biggest test of his career in former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. Unfortunately for Rodriguez and his fans, this test proved to be a little too much. After giving up several takedowns, Rodriguez was pummelled by his foe’s ground and pound until the cage-side physician had no choice but to call a stop to the action between rounds. In the wake of this tough loss, Rodriguez has released a poignant statement on his official Facebook account. See it below:

Chris Taylor - May 13, 2017

UFC 211 Results: Frankie Edgar vs. Yair Rodriguez A key featherweight tilt between former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and surging contender Yair Rodriguez took place during tonight’s UFC 211 pay-per-view card in Dallas, Texas.

bjpenndotcom - May 6, 2017

Middleweight boxing champion Canelo Alvarez is undoubtably one of Mexico’s biggest professional athletes. Interestingly enough, ahead of his upcoming title defense against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr this Cinco De Mayo weekend, UFC Prospect Yair Rodriguez believes he can actually become a bigger star in Mexico than Canelo is. Ahead of that fight, streaking UFC featherweight Yair Rodriguez spoke to MMAJunkie to explain why he feels he can become a bigger star in Mexico than Canelo!

Chris Taylor - April 29, 2017

Yair Rodriguez believes that “disrespectful” Frankie Edgar is the toughest fight in the featherweight division Surging UFC featherweight contender Yair “El Pantera” Rodriguez will return to the octagon at next month’s UFC 211 pay-per-view event in Dallas, Texas where he will square off with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar.

Chris Taylor - April 16, 2017

Yair Rodriguez is not like other fighters and vows to become a UFC champion this year Surging UFC featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez will take on former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar on the main card of next month’s stacked UFC 211 pay-per-view card in Dallas, Texas.

Chris Taylor - April 14, 2017

Yair Rodriguez promises to deliver on his mom’s premonition for UFC 211 fight with Frankie Edgar Surging UFC featherweight contender Yair “El Pantera” Rodriguez will return to the octagon at next month’s UFC 211 pay-per-view event in Dallas, Texas where he will square off with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar.

bjpenndotcom - April 14, 2017

https://youtu.be/BFomgcAqGCA Streaking UFC prospect Yair Rodriguez is fresh off his January win over BJ Penn, which saw the young star pick up his 6th straight UFC win, extending his unbeaten streak in the Octagon. Following Rodriguez’ win over Penn, the UFC gave the #8 ranked featherweight quite the step up in competition as they booked ‘Pantera’ to fight UFC featherweight #1 contender Frankie Edgar in a pivotal showdown at UFC 211 on May 13th.

Russell Ess - March 14, 2017

A fight that has the potential to really shake up the 145-pound division is set as #2 UFC ranked featherweight Frankie Edgar takes on #9 ranked Yair Rodriguez on May 13 at UFC 211. Edgar, a former UFC lightweight champion has much more to lose currently sitting near the top of the featherweight division while Rodriguez has everything to gain in their competition. However, Edgar talking with Jon Anik and Kenny Florian on their Anik and Florian podcast said he was game as always didn’t have any issues with taking on the flashy rising star.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2017

Last month, Mexican featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez scored a nice win over UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn. Now several weeks removed from this win, the wild striking specialist explained to MMA Junkie that his defeat of Penn has made him a much more visible celebrity. “To be honest, before BJ, of course people recognized me, but not as much as this time,” he explained. “Now I can see in the United States a lot of people are asking me for pictures, autographs and all that stuff. Before it was just in Mexico and Latin America. Now it’s everywhere.”

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2017

With the UFC’s exciting stop in Houston now in the rear view mirror, it’s time to look to the future, as the card’s winners set their sights on their next challenges, and its losers look for the opportunity to bounce back.

Russell Ess - February 3, 2017

Coming off the biggest win of his career against UFC Hall of Fame legend BJ Penn, Yair Rodriguez is looking to climb to the top of the featherweight division and establish himself as the best in the 145-pound division. Rodriguez recently spoke with Michaela Vernava on Radio Row about his huge win over a Penn, who “Pantera” says he grew up watching fight.

bjpenndotcom - January 19, 2017

Earlier this month, streaking featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez picked up the biggest win of his career as he not only defeated, but TKOd UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn in the main event of their ‘UFC Fight Night: Phoenix’ scrap. The fight was a particularly dominant one for Yair Rodriguez, who showcased his excellent striking throughout the fight, landing 56 of 113 total strikes at 49%, and landing 55 of 111 significant strikes for a total of 49% compares to Penn landing 7 of 27 total strikes at 25%, and 4 of 22 significant strikes at 18%. In addition to landing more shots, many of Yair Rodriguez’ significant strikes that landed were head kicks, something he doesn’t necessarily feel bad about.

Russell Ess - January 16, 2017

The main event of UFC Fight Night 103 brought UFC Hall of Fame legend BJ Penn back into the Octagon to take on the 24-year-old rising UFC star Yair Rodriguez. It wasn’t the outcome that Penn and his fans were looking for as Rodriguez was able to pick up a second round TKO stoppage over the former two-division UFC champion.

bjpenndotcom - January 14, 2017

Friday morning in Phoenix, Arizona, UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn hit the scales ahead of his ‘UFC Fight Night: Phoenix’ scrap on January 15th, where he will face streaking featherweight Yair Rodriguez. For Penn, the experience was his first time participating in the UFC’s early weigh-ins, which began in 2016 in order to give fighters more time to rehydrate between weigh-ins, and the time they step into the Octagon on fight night.