Arnold Allen gave his opinion regarding the likelihood of a featherweight battle between Yair Rodriguez and Alexander Volkanovski , as well as who he thinks might emerge victorious if the fight actually does take place.
Yair Rodriguez is THE NEW interim featherweight champion!! 🏆@PanteraUFC defeats Josh Emmett by submission to claim the 145-lb title #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/sGU3li6Z9M
— UFC (@ufc) February 12, 2023
In the main event of UFC 284, which took place a week ago at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski engaged in a grand battle against each other. The victory of Yair Rodrguez in a featherweight bout over Joshua Emmett was another one of the night’s many highlights.
Afterwards, Yair Rodriguez said that he plans to fight Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski in Mexico City for a title unification contest so that he may become the undisputed 145-pound champion. Yair added in the post-fight briefing that he has already spoken with Volkanovski’s management in Dallas and that he is optimistic about the upcoming fight.
Yair Rodriguez and the mastery of unconventionality {Thread} pic.twitter.com/v6MwSSUeap
— Ted (@tedbratby) February 13, 2023
During an interview with Mike Owens of Lowkick MMA, the current number three featherweight fighter in the UFC, Arnold Allen, gave his opinion on Yair’s callout to Volkanovski. However, Allen is not too much optimistic about Yair defeating The Great even though he has potential.
According to the American MMA fighter, Yair is like a grenade who can through elbows, got good submissions, explosive with his hips, can triangle up, and overall he is everywhere. While praising his Mexican featherweight rival, Allen also said there’s always a chance of a knee or elbow from Rodriguez at any point of the fight.
Yair Rodriguez wants Volkanovski to enter hostile territory to unify the belts 🇲🇽 #UFC284 | More: https://t.co/CVdUA09WTG pic.twitter.com/MAn3Qc6ibn
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) February 14, 2023
After losing to Islam Makhachev at the same event where Yair defeated Emmett, Volkanovski has issued a threat to the other fighters in the featherweight division and responded to Yair’s bout challenge in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. Arnold, who will be fighting Max Holloway, predicts that Yair will be defeated by The Aussie.
“I wouldn’t want to bet against him. But, it’s hard to bet against Volk. It’s a good fight. Knowing Volkanovski, he’ll probably outwork him… shut him down, and cancel him out. But you’re not gonna not get marked up against him (Yair Rodriguez).” Allen further added.
https://youtu.be/doiOn05iw4U
Victories over Brian Ortega and Joshua Emmett have propelled Rodriguez to the fifth spot in his division. Alexander, on the other hand, has defended his featherweight championship four times, beating Max Holloway twice, Brian Ortega once, and Chan Sung Jung once. Who do you think will win, The Great or El Pantera?
