Henry Cejudo calls for Diego Lopes vs. Yair Rodriguez fight for Noche UFC 3 later this year, believes "the storyline is too good"

A "Mexican World War III" might take place again inside the UFC octagon as Yair Rodriguez and Diego Lopes are after each other's necks. Rodriguez, a former interim UFC featherweight champion, is one of Mexico's proudest sons.

Lopes, a former title challenger from Brazil, calls himself an adopted son of Mexico, representing the nation every time he enters the octagon.

At the UFC 314 press conference last weekend, the two men - involved in separate fights on the card - nearly came to blows on stage.

Yair Rodriguez made it clear that he's not happy that Diego Lopes is representing Mexico. However, the beef is more personal as 'El Pantera' accused Lopes and his team of jumping his teammate.

After the dust settled post-UFC 314, fans are now clamoring for Rodriguez and Lopes to settle the beef inside the cage. One fan of this match-up is former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo, who suggested the perfect UFC event for the bout:

"Diego Lopes vs Yair Rodriguez, UFC Noche in Mexico, Guadalajara. Yair was saying that Lopes is not a Mexican. He's just out there for likes... But I also understand a little bit of why a guy who was born and raised in that country is saying that."

He added:

"So the beef even goes beyond that. From what I heard in Spanish is one of Yair's friends got jumped by some members of team Lopes... We got to get to the bottom of this. But the storyline is too good. I think it has to be done."

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Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez's post UFC 314 rankings

Considering where they are in the updated UFC featherweight rankings, a match between Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez makes a lot of sense.

Despite losing his world title match to Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 314, Lopes went up a notch and landed in the No. 2 spot. His gutsy performance against the veteran champion didn't hurt his stock at all - it elevated it.

As for Yair Rodriguez, 'El Pantera' dominated MMA legend and UFC newcomer Patricio Pitbull. His ranking went up to No. 4. The only person on the list that's separating the two is former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who relinquished his belt to move up to lightweight.

Both Lopes and Rodriguez faced Volkanovski for the belt, albeit coming up short. Having them fight each other for a possible title eliminator only makes sense. Add that to the personal animosity and the prospect of headlining a UFC Noche card, Dana White and company would be foolish not to book this fight.