Yair Rodriguez has had his fair share of ups and down since signing to the UFC back in 2014.
After going from being temporarily released by the promotion and his actions in the infamous Mexico City crowd incident to winning the interim featherweight title, ‘El Pantera’ appears to be in a great place right now.
His next outing comes at UFC 314 on April 12 in Miami where Rodriguez will welcome Patricio Pitbull to the Octagon in an incredible clash at 145-pounds.
There has been some tension between them in the build up with Pitbull sharing an exchange they had before they were matched up for the Kaseya Center.
Away from the spotlight, at this stage in his career ahead of another pivotal fight, the 32-year-old is able to look back at some mistakes that he made over the years with total honesty.
Yair Rodriguez admits that he didn’t put enough effort into previous training camps
In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Yair Rodriguez spoke about the impact of having a great team around him at VFS Academy in Chicago.
The Mexican striker has trained with the likes of Belal Muhammad and Julianna Pena under coach Mike Valle for some time now but he believes that ahead of UFC 314, he has really been able to focus on his preparations.
Rodriguez was asked about how in recent years, he hadn’t been able to get a solid block of training in with this team for a 3 or 4 month period.
That has now changed and ‘El Pantera’ has no problem admitting that his training camps haven’t been ideal throughout his career.
He reflected on how many of his performances, both good and bad, have been a result of him not putting his best foot forwards by giving 100% at all times.
The former interim featherweight champion is now confident that he has put that behind him as he looks to bounce back from consecutive defeats.
“I mean, look, putting all the cards on the table, I think it’s been a lot of years. It’s been a lot of years where I barely gave the training camp the attention it needed. 10 weeks, 2 weeks to adjust to be able to start the training camp and it’s the reality of things.
“With that, I was able to get the results I got, good or bad, either way that stays in the past but now, with this opportunity, I feel better because I’ve spent more time focused in the gym with coach Mike’s training regimen, surrounded by great fighters who I consider like family because I see them every day.”
Yair Rodriguez believed that he would be a champion earlier in his career
Yair Rodriguez’s flawed preparations in the past could down to several different factors.
Not only was he unable to put consistent work in with his team for an extended period, he admitted in the same interview that his results weren’t matching up with his own self belief.
Rodriguez did win the interim title at UFC 284 where he submitted Josh Emmett in the second round but in his opinion, he believed that this level of success would come to him earlier in his journey.
Whilst that natural talent has been there from the moment that he first stepped inside the Octagon, ‘El Pantera’ has had to learn some vital lessons along the way to become an elite featherweight.
“They always had that belief and confidence in me that I could become champion. If you ask me, based on my abilities and my talent, I thought I would be champion before then, right? So, now things haven’t gone exactly how I thought or wanted, but I’m still here without losing my focus.”
