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Mixing up Alexander Volkanovski’s excellent performance against Islam Makhachev, he lost the simple fact that he had a very dangerous opponent. On the same night that the Australian chased double champion status, Yair Rodriguez won the interim featherweight gold by dismantling Josh Emmett with his vicious kicking game.
It’s far from the first event produced by “Pantera,” which has scored some ridiculous stoppage wins throughout its career. He’s incredibly fast and has a unique skill set, and his intense offense makes him a real threat to Volkanovski’s shorter man.
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan impressed Rodriguez, to say the least. In the last episode of The Joe Rogan ExperienceIn Exclaim!, Rogan heaped plenty of praise on the Mexican champion, calling him a “genius” and being poetic about his kicking abilities.
“Have you seen Yair Rodriguez fight? Yair Rodriguez is one of the fiercest moms-to-bes who have fought in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)” (via MMA junkie). Yair has some of the craziest kicks. He’s got that taekwondo background, but he does all these stunts. He hit BJ Penn with a 360-degree spin. He and Kid BJ Penn are up.
“Look at that mom. He kicks him with the right, then in the air he hits him with the left. He’s a beast. He’s so dynamic, he’s eye-catching and on the ground. Josh Emmett finishes him off with a triangle in his final fight. He sucks on the ground. He’s a bad king. He’s evil, and it’s hard Really discover him because everything he does is different… King Genius.”
It remains to be seen if Rodriguez’s genius is enough to dethrone Volkanovski, but he will get his shot at UFC 290 on Saturday, July 8, 2023 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
insomnia
The new meme format just dropped:
Guram Kutataledze revealed that visa problems were the reason for his withdrawal, not his injury, so I hope he can rebook sooner rather than later.
Every Matthew Simelsberger fight is a struggle.
Tim Elliott brings some extra emotion to his fight this weekend against Victor Altamarino.
He’s not my first choice for either man, but I’ll happily watch Renato Moicano and Rafael Vizieff battle it out again.
Speaking of rematches, Marlon Vera wants another shot at Corey Sandhagen.
Down the line I’m going to take on Corey again and trust me I’m going to take him out.
– Chitovera (chitoveraUFC) May 31, 2023
It’s always great to see a game plan come together.
Bilal Muhammad doesn’t seem too interested in a casual tiff with Shawn Strickland.
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Getting chewed up by a bad lefty kicker is never fun.
Alex Caceres’ high kick setup against Julian Erosa is a great example of great strike timing.
Matt Brown is one of the best strikers in the history of mixed martial arts.
Matt Brown with a tie:
– Set up those long straight punches that either support the ruby or allow Matt to work with the tie to create holes for elbows, knees and sweeps
– In front of the fence, he made Robbie break the stance by disengaging after being punished by several elbows pic.twitter.com/XFgUzUgdtz– Sweet Bunch Memories (@SPM_staff) May 30, 2023
random land
High level engineering.
Midnight Music: Country, 2013
Sleep well lunatics! More martial arts craze is always on the way.