The rivalry between Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez continues to heat up in the midst of rumors regarding Yair turning down a fight against him.
As we know, Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez are both top featherweight contenders. They recently fought on the same card, and while Lopes fell short in his attempt to defeat Alexander Volkanovski and win the belt, Rodriguez managed to pick up a win over the debuting Patricio Pitbull. In the lead-up to fight night, however, the two men were at each other’s throats during the press conference, revealing a bubbling feud that has been developing between them.
RELATED: WATCH | Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez get into heated altercation at UFC 314 press conference: “Stop with the threats”
After reports suggesting Rodriguez turned down a grudge match against Lopes, Diego responded in a recent interview.
Lopes responds to Rodriguez
“I think this guy is so nervous in the video,” Lopes said. “This guy is talking a lot of words, but have no sense or context in your words.” “Now, for me, it’s [any] fight the UFC sends me, I’m OK,” Lopes said.
“I want to fight Yair, but Yair say nothing, I don’t know. Maybe Jean Silva, Arnold Allen, everyone that’s in the ranking, I’m waiting for the fight. “Now in my position, I lost my title fight, I think I need only one big fight for me [to fight for] the title again.”
Quotes via MMA Fighting
Lopes knows that he’s in a solid position even after losing to Volkanovski, whereas it certainly seems like Yair is happy to wait for what is starting to feel like an inevitable second shot at Volkanovski and the world championship.
Do you believe we’re going to see Diego Lopes vs Yair Rodriguez at some point in the future?. If it does happen, who would you back to pick up the win and why? Let us know your thoughts on this, BJPENN Nation!
