Yair Rodriguez is returning to the octagon at UFC Mexico City. The Mexican returns to fight in his hometown against a man he has already beaten. He takes on Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega on February 24. The former interim UFC Featherweight Champion had some choice words for the newly crowned champion Ilia Topuria. He spoke about the Spaniard during media day, the video of which is doing the rounds on X, as Rodriguez called out the champion.
Yair Rodriguez has fought Alexander Volkanovski before. His last fight came against the former champion, where he got knocked out at the hands of ‘The Great’.
During media day for UFC Mexico City, a reporter asked Rodriguez if he would want to fight Topuria in the near future. He responded by saying,
“I would love to f*ck him up. I don’t wanna fight him I want to f*ck him up. There’s a big f*cking difference on that. Anywhere I f*cking see him I’ll f*ck him up.”
Yair Rodriguez GOES OFF on Ilia Topuria
“I would love to f*** [Topuria] up. I don’t wanna fight him I want to f*** him up. There’s a big difference on that.
Anywhere I f***ing see him I’ll f*** him up. F*** this b*tch I don’t f***ing like him.”
@MMAJunkie #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/ZZnH5JTD6a
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 21, 2024
Yair Rodriguez is usually very respectful of his peers. However, when it comes to Ilia Topuria, he outright called him a ‘b*tch’ and said he does not like him one bit.
Ilia Topuria responded to Yair Rodriguez’s callouts even before he became champion.
Ilia Topuria shut down Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega even before becoming champion
Ilia Topuria was supremely confident ahead of his fight against Alexander Volkanovski. So confident that he even predicted he would become champion on Instagram.
However, before his fight, a reporter asked him about Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega calling him out. He responded by saying,
“Who doesn’t want to fight me right now? Who not? I didn’t become a UFC world champion yet, I have three more days to do it. They are already calling me out, why? Red panty night.”
“Everybody is calling me out. … Red Panty Night.”
Ilia Topuria claps back at Yair Rodriguez & Brian Ortega before #UFC298. pic.twitter.com/94AtBaft4u
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) February 15, 2024
Ilia Topuria responded with the classic Conor McGregor ‘red panty night’ line. Meaning, Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega are both looking for a payday by fighting him.
However, now that he is champion, he will have to decide who he has to fight next for his first title defense.