The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) currently has three Mexican champions.
Well, 2.5 when you consider Parral’s Yair Rodriguez is the interim featherweight title holder – and the first interim champion in UFC history to wear two belts. El Pantera will attempt to unify the titles when he takes on reigning 145-pound champ Aleksandr Volkanovski in the UFC 290 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this Saturday. Night (July 8, 2023) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC 290 will also feature Tijuana’s Brandon Moreno, who is looking to defend his 125-pound title against longtime flyweight rival Alexandre Pantoja, and “The Assassin Baby” will be looking to avenge his two previous losses to the Brazilian “Cannibal” in Fifth round. -The main event. Both Rodriguez and Moreno were recently spotlighted in a special photo posted by GQ Mexico, which featured Alex Grasso of Guadalajara, the current UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion.
Grasso defended her title against former champion Valentina Shevchenko during a special UFC event held on Mexican Independence Day.
What does winning at UFC 290 mean for Rodriguez?
“That’s a simple question, but also a big question,” Rodriguez said. Cageside Press On UFC 290 media day. “It means the work we’ve done, every single one [individually] But together at the same time, as a fellow Mexican at the same time, if you want to see it that way, it’s been years and years of work to make that dream come true. And we are literally changing the history of Mexico, not only in mixed martial arts but in sports. And if that’s not enough, I don’t know what to say, because we’re literally changing the way sports are seen in an entire country, and that’s big enough.”
Moreno is the first Mexican-born fighter to win a UFC title.
“I think this is a huge statement for Mexican mixed martial arts,” added the flyweight champion. “I’m just happy for my country, and I’m happy for Latin America in general, because the UFC is starting to become known [in Mexico]. We’re good at combat sports, and I’ve said this before. In taekwondo for example. We throw punches well, we just needed support, we needed opportunities and obviously on our part we just need discipline and sacrifices. But man, we’re ready for the biggest stage in mixed martial arts.”
Rodriguez first began training with Moreno in MMA in Jackson over a decade ago.
“First, I want to express Brandon Moreno, he is an inspiration to me,” Rodriguez said at the UFC 290 media day. MMA junkie). “He was the first to win a UFC title for Mexico, and in a way, he opened my eyes. I always knew things could be achieved. After I got into the UFC, I saw that things were possible, that things were real, but he opened my eyes even more and said, ‘Look, bro. “This is the UFC belt. Now everything beyond this depends on the individual. I’m proud to share a card together, and that we represent Mexico in my case to unify and defend the title. But yeah, words can’t express how proud and happy I am to be in this position.” .
Now the only thing left is to win.
Remember that MMAmania.com It will provide comprehensive and explosive live coverage of the entire UFC 290 fight card herestarting early ESPN+ Online “Prelims” matches, which are set to start at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard bouts on ABC/ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 PM ET, prior to the PPV main card’s 10 PM ET start time ESPN+ PPV.
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