“My visualization goes towards that”— Former interim featherweight champion teases his future plan ahead of UFC 314

Yair Rodriguez is returning to the Octagon after a layoff of over a year since his defeat to Brian Ortega at UFC Fight Night on February 25, 2024. In his recent media day appearance for UFC 314, the former interim featherweight champion seems all prepared to face Patricio Pitbull, the former two-weight Bellator champion. Additionally, Rodriguez, ranked at number 5 in the featherweight division, talked about his routine during the layoff, his future plans, Aaron Pico’s addition to the UFC, and the debate of nationality.
Yair Rodriguez, aka El Pantera, had quite a setback in his UFC career when he had two back-to-back losses. After being declared the interim champion of the featherweight division post his win against Josh Emmett, Rodriguez lost a title unification bout to Alexander Volkanovski and then a rematch with Brian Ortega. The setback pushed the fighter to take some time off from the Octagon. After the bout against Ortega, the fighter went on a long holiday with his girlfriend and visited 14 countries. This period was quite fun for Rodriguez. However, towards the end of the year, the fighter decided to change certain habits of his and decided to lead a better lifestyle.
“By the end of the last year, I started changing like little bit. Started putting more time into the gym. I started changing my habits a little bit. Right towards by the end of the year, I completely changed everything…my bad habits. I completely erased all the bad things that I had been doing…I can actually see the progress, the progress in my body. In my head.”

The fighter acknowledged how his brother is one of his biggest motivators and has been the driving force in reforming Rodriguez’s habits lately. Additionally, the fighter expressed his opinion on the representation of the fighter’s nationality in light of Diego Lopes’s online trolling. Lopes has been caught in the crossfire of online trolls who questioned the fighter because of his Brazilian origin and now staying and training in Mexico.
“I don’t agree with it. I started my career in the UFC in 2014, and now it’s 2025. I’ve been living in the U.S. for over 10 years, my girlfriend is American, and I speak English—and now, because of that, I’m representing the American flag to gain followers. I love this country, but I’m not going to say I’m American. I’m not. I’m Mexican, and I’m proud of it.” The fighter added, “Yes, I have a problem with that, not with Diego. He’s just doing his job with what he’s doing right now. My issue is, what’s up with people? I understand he’s great, he’s exciting, and he’s doing his job, but I just don’t agree with it.”
A win for both the fighters, Lopes and Rodriguez, in their respective bouts might land them facing each other this year itself at UFC 320 in Guadalajara. Rodriguez has kept a positive attitude towards it and stated, “My visualization goes toward that. I’m obviously not overlooking this fight with Pitbull, but you have to be prepared for anything. You have to visualize what you want to happen and create it—so that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Also read: Paddy Pimblett slams Michael Chandler’s in-cage behavior before UFC 314 showdown
El Pantera has always kept a positive attitude towards his fellow fighters. When asked about Aaron Pico’s addition to the UFC, a fighter who had the same coach like Rodriguez, the later was quite supportive of the development and praised the UFC newcomer for his skills. With this positive attitude, Yair Rodriguez is all set to conquer the Octagon once again.