On February 12, 2023, at UFC 284, Yair Rodrguez challenged Josh Emmett for the Interim UFC Featherweight Championship.
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Yair Raziel Rodrguez Portillo was born on October 6, 1992. He is a skilled mixed martial artist from Mexico. He is the current Interim UFC Featherweight Champion and fights in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Rodrguez joined the UFC in 2014 after taking first place in The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America competition. Rigoberto Rodrguez Olivas and Norma Alicia Portillo are the parents of Yair Raziel Rodrguez, who was born and reared in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico. Rodrguez began Taekwondo at the age of five.
On October 10, 2011, at Mexican Fighter Promotions 8, Rodriguez competed in his first mixed martial arts (MMA) match professionally. He defeated Jonatan Guzmán by unanimous decision. He squared off against Carlos Ricardo at The Supreme Cage Fighting 1 on March 10, 2012.
He submitted in the third round to win (triangle choke). After that, on December 12, 2012, at Mexican Fighter Promotions 13, Rodriguez faced off against Luis Roberto Herrera. In the opening round, he was knocked out. At Mexican Fighter Promotions 14 on February 16, 2013, Rodrguez took on Édgar Juárez as his next opponent.
By way of a first-round knockout, he prevailed. On April 4, 2014, at NP: High Altitude Face Off 6, he faced Angelo Durante in his final match before joining the UFC. In round one, Rodrguez used an arm bar to secure the victory.
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Rodriguez competed against Charles Rosa at UFC 188 after winning the Ultimate Fighter competition. Rodriguez prevailed by a split decision in what was a match worthy of the Fight of the Night bonus round. Then, to win his first Performance of the Night bonus, he knocked out Andre Fili at UFC 197 and beat Dan Hooker at UFC 192.
At UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Caceres, Yair faced Alex Caceres in his first UFC main event match. In his subsequent UFC main-event fight, Yair defeated B.J Penn by a split decision. He then faced UFC veteran Frankie Edgar at UFC 211.
He next fought Jeremy Stephens at UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Stephens. The bout ended in 15 seconds due to an accidental eye poke by Rodriguez that resulted in Stephens being rendered unable to fight. The fighters rematched at UFC on ESPN 6 led to Yair winning by unanimous decision.
At UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Stephens, he then faced Jeremy Stephens. Due to Rodriguez’s unintentional eye poke that made Stephens unable to fight, the fight finished in 15 seconds. At their rematch on UFC on ESPN 6, Yair prevailed by unanimous decision.
Rodriguez received a 6-month retroactive suspension from USADA in December 2020 for failing to inform the agency of his location and refusing to submit to a drug test. The moratorium was lifted in March 2021.
At UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Rodriguez, Rodriguez faced Max Holloway in a back-and-forth contest Holloway ultimately prevailed in a unanimous decision.
On July 16, 2022, Rodriguez and Brian Ortega squared off on UFC on ABC 3. Having sustained a dislocated shoulder in the opening round, Ortega was unable to continue and the bout was declared over by technical knockout.
On February 12, 2023, at UFC 284, Rodriguez fought Josh Emmett for the interim UFC featherweight championship. In the second round, he submitted with a triangle choke to win the fight and become the interim title.
According to Tapology, Rodriguez’s career earnings are predicted to be $492,000 a year. According to celebrityhow, he has a net worth of $7 million.
