The main event fight between top Featherweight contenders, Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez, ended in rather anticlimactic fashion earlier today (Sat., July 16, 2022) at UFC Long Island, after Ortega separated his shoulder in round one, resulting in a technical knockout (TKO) win for âEl Pantera.â
Once the dust settled, both Rodriguez and Ortega agreed to run it back once âT-Cityâ is good to go again, though Rodriguez would love for the do-over to take place with the title on the line. The disappointing finish has now left the championship picture in a bit of a mess because Josh Emmett is still lurking in the shadows calling for his shot against division king Alexander Volkanovski.
Speaking of which, âThe Greatâ has his eyes on the Lightweight strap, but he will likely have to wait a while since it was just confirmed that Charles Oliveira will face Islam Makhachev for the vacant 155-pound title at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi. Not to mention, the fact that Volkanovski will be on the mend as a result of thumb surgery.
With all of the uncertainties at the moment, UFC president Dana White was met with an interesting scenario during the post-fight presser (video replay here) after he was asked if he would entertain the idea of an interim Featherweight title fight between Rodriguez and Emmett.
And his answer may surprise you.
âYeah. I mean Volkanovski I think is going to have surgery on his hand. I think there is something wrong with his hand. Yeah, we will figure it out,â he said. âSo youâre asking if thatâs a possibility, I like it. I donât hate it,â he concluded.
Rodriguez and Emmett are currently tied for the No. 3 spot at 145 pounds, so a matchup between the two does make sense, and adding an interim title to the potential barn-burner only sweetens the pot. As for Ortega and Volkanovskiâs injury issues, there is no telling how long they are going to keep them out of action.
LOL Emmett oiling that squeaky wheel
This was the squeakier wheel actually⌠Titty tatt, interestingâŚ
Fuck this, letâs see Yair vs Volk.
Now youâre talking
Volkâs out til next year with a broken/injured hand.
Wellllll shit.
Emmett thinks he is a stand-up guru and does not have good cage intelligence. Yair sleeps him.
If youâre gonna say wild shit that directly contradicts the article, you gotta put âTL;DRâ.
Have some etiquette!
Yair is so much fun to watch. His creativity combined with his speed is pretty wild. Him and Volk will eventually be an amazing fight
Emmitt is on a 5 fight win streak, yair has 1 win streak on a freak injury. Emmitt deserves it and i know the ug hates Emmitt but its true. Since volk is injured lets do Emmitt vs yair, im fucking diwn for that.
Well, I guess since there isnât anything else to do. Emmitt better not fuck this Volk vs Yair fight up though with his boring shit.
Maybe it would be a little better if the UFC just started having Urijah Faber stand in for all of Emmittâs interviews. Post fight, etc.
I donât think Volk has anything else to prove at that weight, It would be a good fight but Iâm ready to see Volk go up and fight the winner of Islam and Charles. And I think he mentioned that himself not too long ago.
Yair Rodriguez isnât demanding a title shot next, but he certainly wouldnât say no if one was offered.
Rodriguez won in a strange manner on Saturday at UFC Long Island when Brian Ortega dislocated his shoulder in the first round during a grappling exchange. Heading into the bout, Rodriguez revealed he was promised a title shot with a victory, but given the unfortunate circumstances surrounding this win, âEl Panteraâ knows that is far from guaranteed now. Heâs happy to play the good soldier for the UFC and do whatever is asked of him.
âWeâll have to see,â Rodriguez said at his post fight press conference. âI want to talk to the UFC first. I want to travel to Vegas and talk to the big bosses and see what they want to do, what they want me to do. Theyâre being really helpful to me. Iâm just happy to be in this company. Iâm super happy to work for them. Whatever they want me to do, Iâm just going to wait and see where everything goes with injuries and stuff. For now, I donât want to think too much about that. I just want to enjoy time with my friends and family.â
Fortunately for Rodriguez, a title fight may still be next for him.
Following UFC Long Island, UFC president Dana White said the promotion was open to the idea of an interim title fight between Rodriguez and Josh Emmett while featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski remains sidelined with a hand injury that could require surgery. And thatâs obviously music to Rodriguezâs ears.
âWow, thatâs pretty good,â Rodriguez said. âI donât know what to say to that. Whatever they want to do, Iâm willing to do whatever they want to do. The ideal fight would be Volkanovski, but heâs out. So I guess whatever Dana says.â
Of course, one man who that is particularly rough for is Ortega. The two-time featherweight title challenger called for a rematch with Rodriguez in his post-fight interview, whenever he was healed up, but with Ortega potentially facing another shoulder surgery, that could be an extended time period.
Rodriguez said heâll be waiting for Ortega though, regardless of how long it takes for âT-Cityâ to make it back to the cage â and by then, he plans do be doing so with 12 pounds of gold wrapped around his waist.
âI told him right after the fight, âHey, donât worry about it. Youâre fine, youâll be fine,ââ Rodriguez said. ââIâm sure weâre going to meet up in the future. We can run it again, you just get healthy. But I want to tell you this, Iâd rather do it for the championship instead of being in a situation like this. If you and I are going to fight again, hopefully we fight for the title.ââ
If Yair opens at anything near -275 Iâm all over that shit, like heavy af
He will probably open at -350 and close around -550