Has Yair Yair Rodríguez been figured out? Examining the common factor in all of his UFC losses

Yair Rodríguez's attempt to reinforce his status as a top contender at featherweight ended in disastrous fashion. This weekend, at UFC Mexico, 'El Pantera' took on Brian Ortega in the co-main event of the evening. Despite a strong start that saw him win round one, Rodríguez was ultimately submitted in round three.

It was a stunning defeat. One that called back to Rodríguez's other losses due to a common theme among them: grappling. Besides Max Holloway, everyone who has ever beaten Rodríguez in the UFC did so by exploiting his clear vulnerability to wrestling and grappling, with even the Hawaiian pursuing takedowns against him.

So the question remains: has Rodríguez been figured out? If so, what does it mean for his future at 145 pounds?

---

Yair Rodríguez and his historic struggles with pressure, wrestling and grappling

There is no doubt that Yair Rodríguez is among the very best strikers in the UFC, and, indeed, all of MMA. 'El Pantera' is the sport's latest representative of Taekwondo, complete with flashy and dynamic kicks. Thus, for his entire tenure with the promotion, his kicks have remained his greatest weapons.

Unfortunately, he soon learned that relying on his kicks so heavily with no secondary or supporting strikes rendered him incredibly vulnerable. A tall and rangy fighter, Rodríguez is long-limbed, so his kicks require even more time and space to generate leverage than usual, which is already significant.

This, however, meant that if he was deprived of space, his main weapons disappeared, and he had little else in the form of backups. This was apparent in his crushing loss against former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, whose wrestling and pressure forced 'El Pantera' to fight off the backfoot.

Check out Yair Rodríguez struggling with Frankie Edgar's wrestling:

He was given little space to throw kicks, and when he did, they were generally caught and converted into takedowns. His defensive wrestling was poor, but even more so, his defensive grappling was shockingly one-dimensional, consisting of nothing more than some strikes off his back and inconsequential submissions.

Rodríguez was dealt a beating by Edgar before the swollen state of his left eye caused the cage-side doctor to call off the bout in round two. Afterward, he took an extended absence from MMA before returning over a year later against Chan Sung Jung as a supposedly improved version of himself.

The two men dragged each other to hell and back, but 'The Korean Zombie' seemed the sure winner toward the end, exposing Rodríguez's lack of proper boxing skills. Yet, in the very last instance, 'The Korean Zombie' lunged forward with a combination, sealing his fate.

'El Pantera' ducked under his punches and uncorked a rising back elbow that blasted his foe's chin. It was the Knockout of the Year and led to many all but forgetting about shortcomings as a striker. After back-to-back fights with Jeremy Stephens, first a no-contest, then a unanimous decision win, his next fight came.

He faced Max Holloway in a war. Here, 'El Pantera' showed slicker boxing skills, specifically off the backfoot, while also punishing Holloway with low kicks to interrupt his jab. Although it was largely Holloway's striking and pressure that troubled him, so too did the Hawaiian's wrestling.

Check out Yair Rodríguez getting taken down by Max Holloway (15:49):

Rodríguez conceded three takedowns to Holloway, who is not a wrestler by trade. Again, his lack of strong defensive wrestling failed him. This time against an opponent who, while well-rounded, is no world-class wrestler. He lost via unanimous decision, and two fights later, faced Josh Emmett.

Against Emmett, Rodríguez had probably his finest-ever performance, showing new wrinkles to his game, like throwing punches immediately after his kicks to counter opponents who try to charge in after missed kicks. But, his issues with pressure and defensive grappling came back to haunt him.

Once on his back, he again had nothing beyond strikes off his back and submissions. He ultimately managed to catch Emmett in a leg-triangle choke, submitting him. But had he not, he'd have continued throwing strikes off his back and making frequent submission attempts.

However, he did, and still does, nothing to get back to his feet. Against defensively sound opponents, he is impotent on the mat. This was apparent when he faced Alexander Volkanovski, who was able to take him down at will, rendering him helpless, with 'El Pantera' completely unable to get back to his feet.

Check out Yair Rodríguez getting TKO'd by Alexander Volkanovski:

Whenever both men were standing, Volkanovski quickly smothered Rodríguez's kicks, eventually rocking him on the feet to take him down once more and score the TKO win. Now, against Brian Ortega, he suffered from similar issues, despite having an exceptional first round.

Despite twice being on the cusp of a finish, Rodríguez failed to capitalize on badly dropping his foe. For the subsequent two rounds, he found himself getting his kicks smothered and easily outwrestled by Ortega, whose greatest flaw has always been his poor takedowns.

Every time he was dragged to the mat, all 'El Pantera' could do was attempt fruitless submissions and stay on his back with no means of getting up. Before long, he was locked in an arm-triangle choke and forced to tap out. This has been a common factor in all of his losses and even some of his wins.

Check out Yair Rodríguez getting outwrestled and submitted by Brian Ortega:

He is easy to pressure, and smothering his kicks neuters his offense to a great degree. But more than that, he is incredibly easy to outwrestle and keep on the mat, even for someone with sub-par wrestling skills like 'T-City.' Rodríguez is a fun fighter and always brings excitement every time he steps into the octagon.

But he is a deeply flawed fighter, much like his stylistic predecessor, Anthony Pettis. Unlike him, however, he will almost certainly never become an undisputed champion in the promotion.