When Yair Rodriguez steps foot inside the Octagon tomorrow night (Jan. 15) he’ll be looking to extend his winning streak to eight. Standing in his way will be former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion B.J. Penn.
The two haven’t exactly been trading barbs, but Penn recently revved things up by claiming Rodriguez asked to fight him because he thought it would be easy. “El Pantera” is puzzled by Penn’s words and expressed his confusion at a media scrum.
“He’s an expert, like he said. He’s pretty good at what he does, and I respect him so much. The way that he talks isn’t going to change the way that I think about him. He said he’s a professional and he’s been in dozens of fights, and he’s acting like an amateur for now. For me, I’m not mad with him.”
Rodriguez had said before that he never asked for a bout with “The Prodigy.” He re-affirmed the media of his stance on the matter.
“I never asked for this fight. I don’t know who told him that, but it’s some fight that the UFC offered me and I accepted just like he did. I don’t know who created that lie, but I didn’t ask for this fight.”
“The Prodigy” is a UFC Hall of Famer and easily the biggest name “El Pantera” has ever encountered. Despite the accolades Penn has earned throughout his career, Rodriguez plans to treat him as he would anyone else.
“It’s an honor, but he’s a human being. I respect everyone else, it could be the President. I’d respect him the same way I respect you. It doesn’t matter who it is, I’m gonna respect them the same way.”
Tomorrow’s UFC Fight Night prelims will begin at 8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). The action will continue on the same network at 10 p.m. ET.
