While Pretty much all the other fights in the UFC 284 fight card have been overshadowed by the high-voltage Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski match, a very important match between Josh Emmett and Yair Rodriguez in the featherweight division is also scheduled to take place as the co-main event.
Josh Emmett vs Jeremy Stephens pic.twitter.com/ghzbVjP4jF
— MMA Gone Wild🥋 (@mmagonewild) September 18, 2019
In a recent interview, Emmett discussed the fight, This fight is everything, winning is everything to me. When I started doing mixed martial arts, my goal was to fight for the UFC – the biggest platform in the (MMA) world – and become a UFC champion. I’m one win away from winning my first world title in the UFC. So it’s everything to me.”
“That’s why everything I’ve done in my life and in my athletic career, it’s been in preparation for this moment. I’m nine days away from winning my first UFC world title. I always just focus on myself and what I’m capable of with my strengths. If the best me shows up on fight night, no one in the world can beat me. So that’s just what we focus on is what I’m good at,” he added further.
Why is the fight between Josh Emmett and Yair Rodriguez so significant?
The featherweight division is in a similar state to the middleweight division before Alex Pereira finally defeated Israel Adesanya in UFC 281. Before that point, almost everybody in the division had fought each other and there were no strong contenders coming out to keep the weight class interesting.
Volk has also pretty much cleared the entire featherweight division after defeating arguably the second-best fighter in the division, Max Holloway twice. Now Islam Makhachev seems to have the power and the skill to potentially put an end to the massive winning streak Alex is currently on.
With Zabit Magomedsharipov teasing a comeback and Holloway taking on Arnold Allen sometime later. The next contender for the featherweight glory could very well come out of the Yair vs Josh fight.
