Top-tier MMA grappler Brian Ortega has just had his latest fight announced, and he will be taking on one of the most exciting strikers in the UFC Featherweight division, Yair Rodriguez. Ortega started his MMA career as close to perfect as you can possibly get, going 14-0 (1) up until the start of 2018 in a series of fights that included finishes of several UFC legends like Frankie Edgar, Cub Swanson, and Clay Guida. This is what earned Ortega his first title-shot against then-Featherweight world champion Max Holloway and although he was stopped at the end of the fourth round, he still gave a solid account of himself.
Ortega then took some time away from the sport in order to fully recover from the loss and continue to develop the striking skills necessary to complement his elite grappling. When he made his return to competition in 2020, he was set up with a fantastic fight against ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung that ended up being a title-eliminator bout in the Featherweight division. Ortega won a convincing decision over a tough opponent and was then able to take his second shot at gold against the reigning UFC Featherweight world champion, Alexander Volkanovski.
Although Ortega lost a decision to the champion, he gave an incredible account of himself in the process and came within inches of submitting Volkanovski on several occasions. While Brian Ortega was spending time away from the sport, Yair Rodriguez was busy working his way back from a devastating loss to Frankie Edgar. He too defeated Chan Sung Jung before also beating Jeremy Stephens by decision and moving swiftly up the division’s rankings.
Then just a matter of weeks after Ortega lost to Volkanovski, Rodriguez was given the opportunity to fight the biggest opponent of his career to date; Max Holloway. Rodriguez dropped a decision in what was declared the fight of the night, although his stock didn’t suffer too much. That brings us to today, where these two exciting fighters will be meeting on July 16th at UFC Fight Night 210 and the winner will re-establish his place as one of the top Featherweight MMA fighters on the planet.
The full UFC Fight Night 210 event, including the main event fight between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez, will be available to watch live on UFC FightPass, click here to subscribe and watch.