Yair Rodriguez unveils beautiful new Mexican-themed UFC championship belt

Yair Rodriguez recently unveiled a beautiful new UFC championship title with a special Mexican-themed design.

Rodrigues took to Instagram and shared a video and photo to his account of a unique Mexican UFC championship that was personally designed for him. He was clearly ecstatic with the results and included a message thanking the artist for their excellent work:

"Cinturón (replica personal) de @ufc intervenida por el artista Oaxaqueño @jacoboymariaangeles...Belt (personal replica) of @ufc intervened by the Oaxacan artist @jacoboymariaangeles (translation)" [@panteraufc - Instagram]

There is plenty of excitement surrounding Mexican MMA, especially considering that there are three UFC champions from the country, including Brandon Moreno, and Alexa Grasso. The interim featherweight champion mentioned that he is thankful for his management team and asked his followers what they thought of the artwork, writing:

"Que les parece esta obra de arte?...Gracias especiales a @mmalince por este detalle tan perron! Y por siempre respaldarme @uppersportsmgmt (original post)...What do you think of this work of art...Special thanks to @mmalince for this doggie detail! And forever back me @uppersportsmgmt (translation)" [@panteraufc - Instagram]

It will be interesting to see whether the customized title will lead to other fighters possibly following Rodriguez and creating their own personal customized designsin the future.

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Alexander Volkanovski claims Yair Rodriguez is one of his toughest opponents

Alexander Volkanovski is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, but the reigning UFC featherweight champion isn't looking past Yair Rodriguez ahead of their featherweight title unification bout this Saturday at UFC 290.

During his appearance on DC & RC, Volkanovski claimed that he believes 'Pantera' is one of the toughest opponents of his career. This is a bold and complimentary statement when considering the caliber of opponents he has defeated. He mentioned that the interim featherweight champion's fighting style makes him unpredictable and a difficult fighter to prepare for, saying:

"I think he's one of the most dangerous guys I've probably ever faced...There's probably a lot of ways I can win this. Dangerous? I think he's definitely one of the most dangerous fighters I've ever faced. That's how seriously I'm taking Yair." [29:09 - 29:24]