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Yair Rodriguez was over the moon when Brandon Moreno became the UFC interim flyweight champion at UFC 277. Moreno landed a beautiful liver kick that hurt Kai Kara-France and eventually led to a TKO victory for the Mexican.
The Dallas crowd were primarily Moreno fans due to his Mexican heritage, and the building exploded when he won. Yair Rodriguez was in attendance and went crazy when 'The Assassin Baby' became champion.
Luckily, the UFC Espanol Instagram account caught his live reaction:
Moreno overcame adversity and put on a phenomenal performance. The win against Kai Kara-France has potentially set up a fourth fight against Deiveson Figueiredo. Figueiredo also mentioned that he wants their next fight in Brazil, which would put the interim champion in hostile territory.
The reaction from Rodriguez showed why Moreno is so important to the UFC. Mexican fight fans have always been willing to support one of their own, and 'The Assassin Baby' has the persona to make himself beloved by anybody.
Yair Rodriguez is not interested in an interim title fight, wants Alexander Volkanovski next
Being at UFC 277 gave Rodriguez an opportunity to talk to the press about his future. 'El Pantera' is coming off a win over Brian Ortega at UFC on ABC 3 that took place on July 16.
Despite Ortega's freak-injury that stopped the fight, the Mexican-born fighter doesn't want to wait for 'T-City' to recover and shut-down all talk of a rematch.
Rodriguez opened up about his future plans backstage at UFC 277 by saying:
"What is in my mind right now is fighting Alexander Volkanovski, and that’s always on my mind right now... I’m waiting for him... No, I’m going to wait for him."
Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski could be away from the division indefinitely due to a hand injury and aspirations to move up to lightweight. Some thought that an interim title fight between Rodriguez and Josh Emmett would be next, but 'El Pantera' wasn't interested.
But Rodriguez can find himself forced into an interim title fight. His last win was questionable, and Emmett has a solid argument for a title shot. If Volkanovski decides to move up to lightweight, the pressure will be on 'El Pantera' to keep the division in motion.
Watch Yair Rodriguez discuss his future plans below:
