Yair Rodriguez warns Ilia Topuria ahead of UFC Mexico City title contender bout: “I want to f*ck him up”

Yair Rodriguez is trying to position himself as a contender for the next UFC featherweight title bout. This weekend, he aims to return to the winning track, but before that, he has his sights set on the champion of his weight division.

In a recent statement, Yair issued a warning to Ilia Topuria, making his intentions clear before facing Brian Ortega in a rematch on February 24th. After their bout at UFC Mexico City, Rodriguez is eyeing Ilia for the next match and a potential second title shot.

Yair Rodriguez issues a stern warning to Ilia Topuria.

Last weekend at the UFC 298 main event, Ilia Topuria did something unexpected when he defeated Alexander Volkanovski in under 9 minutes. While keeping this in mind, Rodriguez was interviewed about his intentions before facing Brian Ortega this weekend. Rodriguez had his choice of words for the new UFC featherweight champion.

As per Bloody Elbow, during the media day, Yair Rodriguez warned Ilia Topuria saying, “I don’t want to fight him. I want to f—k him up. There is a f—king big difference in that. Just to make that clear, And anywhere I see him, I will look him up. F—k this b—h. I don’t f—king like him.”

Known for respectful manners, this is the first time Rodriguez showed much disrespect towards his chosen opponent. “I never gave a f—k about the guy until he started f—king talking s—t about me,” added Rodriguez.

The triggering point for Rodriguez was when Topuria opened up about his choice of fighters and mentioned the ones he’d ignore fighting. Ilia Topuria listed Max Holloway, Brian Ortega, and Yair Rodriguez.

Yair Rodriguez aims for a title shot ahead of the Brain Ortega bout.

Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez have already faced each other once, in July 2022. Rodriguez secured the victory via TKO, and the bout ended in tragedy when Ortega suffered a shoulder injury. This victory earned Rodriguez the opportunity to compete for the interim UFC featherweight championship title against Josh Emmet at UFC 284. Although Yair won the bout and earned the chance to challenge for the UFC featherweight title, he was unsuccessful against Alexander Volkanovski.

This time, Yair Rodriguez is more prepared than his previous fight against “The Great,” and the 31-year-old assures fans that he has overcome all the mistakes and promises a better performance.

“I accept all the weight of the mistake on my shoulders; I shouldn’t have gone out so quickly to the fight. Many fighters would have preferred to throw the fight at the moment than to go out so fast. I don’t know if it was because I didn’t want the audience to get cold, nor did I want to get out of the fight so quickly. I was stunned, and what I wanted was to fight. I left very soon.”

If Yair Rodriguez wins the bout, then fans can expect the former UFC interim champion to challenge Ilia Topuria. And the hatred can be easily observed from the recent warning of the 31-year-old Mexican fighter.

What do you think Ilia Topuria will respond to the call from Yair Rodriguez?