UFC featherweight Yair “Pantera” Rodriguez is gearing up for the largest fight of his career. The featherweight competitor is set to face former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar at 145 pounds. That being said, Rodriguez believes this is only the beginning.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkkie, Yair Rodriguez explained “What is happening to me, this is not luck. I work hard every day — like, really, really hard. My coach is here; he would slap me in the face if I lied. Every single aspect of my game, I work on every (expletive) day. I wake up thinking about it, I eat thinking of it, and I train thinking all my life is around just one thing, and that’s to become the best fighter in the world. That’s it.”
The mixed martial artist believes he can be larger than boxing phenom Canelo Alvarez in his home country. “I can be bigger (than Alvarez). Mexican people, they already have a lot of boxing stars. But they don’t have an MMA star in Mexico. It’s just me. I’m going to be that star.
“I’m already a star in Mexico, but I’m going to be even bigger than that, because I have all the Latin American market behind me, and part of the United States market. I have all these advantages. A lot of people from Brazil and Russia and Europe, they follow me; they send me messages and follow me. I feel blessed.”
Frankie Edgar and Yair Rodriguez will throw down at UFC 211 inside the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas on May 13.
