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Yair Rodriguez is finally making a return to the Octagon at UFC on ESPN+ 17, where he will take on Jeremy Stephens in the main event. Fans are surely looking forward to the fight, since at his last outing back in November in the previous year, Rodriguez snatched a victory against Chan Sung Jung with one of the most viral Knockouts at the last second in MMA history.
Now that he is back, “El Pantera” will be looking forward to finishing this fight in a similar manner. Although Stephens was not his initial choice of opponent, he definitely has a plan in place to defeat “Lil’ Heathen” before the five rounds are over.
MMA Junkie reported on the matter.
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Rodriguez had pushed for a different fight
Yair Rodriguez originally wanted a fight with Zabit Magomedsharipov and the bout was scheduled to take place in Mexico last year. But it did not materialize in the end, despite Rodriguez pushing hard for it.
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“I was really pushing for it, but I don’t know what happened and I don’t really understand why. They end up pushing this fight, so I was like, ‘Okay, I can’t just let this opportunity go in front of my people. I’m just going to take the fight and go.”
He said that a contest with Stephens was not something he was looking forward to, because of the tough competition he would put up despite being a lower ranked fighter.
“I didn’t want to fight Jeremy Stephens because he’s lower than me in the rankings and he’s a really tough opponent. No disrespect.”
However, he has a strategy in his mind to beat Stephens.
Rodriguez has a game plan for Stephens
Ever since the fight has been finalized, Stephens has been sending jabs at Rodriguez’s way, but the latter is not fazed by his opponent’s antics. However, Rodriguez has immense respect for his in-cage abilities. According to him, Stephens is tough, strong and has an experience of 28 MMA outings under his belt, compared to only 11 of Rodriguez.
However, he is positive that the fight will be hard-and-fast and not last for five rounds.
“I don’t think the fight is going to go five rounds. He’s really aggressive and we know anything can happen, so if I stay (still) he can connect (on me).”
Rodriguez said that he has plans to keep Stephens going and take a clean, hard shot for a knockout if he gets an opening.
“I’m going to be smart and keep him moving. That exactly is my advantage. I’ll take the opportunity and if I see a clean shot, I’m going to take him hard as (expletive), that’s it.”
The fight will take place on September 21 at Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Mexico.
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