The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Daniel Cormier TV - Yair Rodriguez: "I'll get a TKO in the 4th round" vs Alexander Volkanovski

Episode Date: July 6, 2023

Yair Rodriguez sits down with DC to talk about his championship fight against Alexander Volkanovski, and gets a surprise FaceTime call from Cain Velasquez! "El Pantera" also tells Daniel Cormier that he will not leave this fight up to the refs, and will become the undisputed champion after defeating Volkanovski. Plus, don't miss Rodriguez talk about his training at high elevation and breakdown what it was like to be cut off from the outside world for 3 weeks. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith ruling. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Like now you'll see different styles Yeah you have you are you married A girlfriend or anything You're just girlfriend. Because you're like an eligible bachelor. And a pretty boy, too. Look at you. Thank you, bro.

God, damn. You are not the kid that we know on the Ultimate Fighter. Come on, bro. We can grow up. I'm 30 years old now. Yeah. And that. For as pretty as you are, that's about the most pretty.

That thing. I mean, that is a beautiful belt. Look at these things. That thing is nice, man. It's beautiful, bro. That is a beautiful belt, my brother. Yeah. Dude, you want to try to add, though.

You want to try to add the real one to that this weekend. Yeah. Hold on. Let me try to make this phone call real quick. Okay. See if this guy answers the fucking phone. I don't know if you will, but maybe. Come on, bro. Let's send a video to this guy.

He said, come on, bro. Answer the fucking phone. Hey, man. This dude said answer the phone. Come on, bro. People in Mexico, where are you, bro? Look at this. I want to show you this shit, man.

Yeah. Come on, baby. Yeah, here. You are on the verge. of the biggest fight of your entire career. How good does it feel, man, knowing that you have gone from the ultimate fighter all the way to the top, right? Whether it was ups or downs, you never would discourage. Ultimately, you get to where you want to be as the interim champion of the world.

Yeah. It means a lot, you know, but the interim belt is not what I'm looking for. I'm looking to be the undisputed champion in the world, you know. And that's what's going to happen. Saturday. It's been a lot of work. It's been a lot of effort. But you guys know about that. You know, it's like I was the same story with all of us. Champion. Hey, hey, hey, talé. What on, brother? What, dude.

Cain. How are you? Good. How are you, bro? Good seeing you. Good, bro. Looking good, man. What happened to you? East Park. I don't worry. That was your wife, right? The championa of the world, Michel Delasquez. Hey, he just wanted to tell you, man,

you wanted to tell you thanks for everything. Hey, much more thanks for all. Hey. I love you, brother. Hey, man. I love you, brother. Hey, hey, keep doing what you're doing, benigniones for simple.

Dude, you deserve everything you're getting, bro. I'm proud of you forever. Fuck, yeah. Following your steps, brother. Thank you. I appreciate it. God bless you. You love you, man.

And, man, I cannot express with words what I feel for you. Love you, bro. Love you, man. Thanks, Kane. I'll talk to you later, bro. Viva, Mexico. Right. He's the man, huh?

He's the man. Hey, what does that mean, though? What does that, like, that mean? To go from being on his team on the ultimate fighter, all that Kane's obviously going through right now in his life, what does it mean for him to pick up the phone and call and kind of give you a little bit of a message as you had into this? Yeah, it's beautiful, you know, it's a big inspiration for me. Hey, Kane has been a big experience for me, and I consider him my friend as well. And, you know, he's been in these shoes, like, not only this, but bigger shoes, you know, and

it's just incredible that I have the opportunity to be friends with the big dogs, with the big guys, you know, and that just gives me good energy, good vibes, and I can wait to go and perform Saturday, I'm ready for this shit. Mexico as a country is a fighting country, right? From the great boxers of the past to the great boxes of today to now the mixed martial artist, like, what does it mean to you? I remember Irene Aldana when she was about to take on Amanda Nunes. She spoke to the pride that you guys carry.

I saw your reaction to Brandon Moreno winning that belt. Yeah. What does it mean to you to represent your country, right? A fighting country on the grandest stage of all. Yeah, it means a lot. It means a lot, you know. Like you say, we're a proud country, especially when it comes to the fighting game. Yeah.

And you have seen it before, you know. Yeah. The reaction with Brandon Moreno, people only see the reaction. You know, you got to look at what's going on around. Like, I had, like, right next to me was Figuerreido. Yeah. You know, sending those vibes of, like, fuck you, Brandon. Yeah.

And fuck everybody that is his friend. Yeah. And I was there supporting him. And then I had in the other side, Kaikara France training partner. Alexander Wokanowski, Röhasaan, yeah, and many others were there and everybody was going really intense, you know, and I was like, okay, like I'm going to, I have to level up or they're going to fucking eat me here. Yeah, level up. Yeah, and when I saw the kick, the first kick he connected, I went, I started going crazy, you know, and I was really, really happy for for random because I knew the meaning, not only of him winning the belt, but for everybody, you know, us as a fighter, you know, us as a fighter, as Mexican fighters, what was going to bring it to the sport, which was bigger than what we knew in the moment. You know, you talk about reactions and you're fighting a guy in Alexander Volkanowski who so many feel that he's pound pound number one, he's this, he's this, and he's this.

But we saw Alexa Grasso go into a fight with Valentin and Shevchenko in the same type of situation, right? and her spirit carried her to a victory. You seem well equipped to go out there and beat Alexander Volcanovsky. How sure are you that you can get the job done this weekend? 100%. 100%. 100% sure that I can get it on. Why if he can't do it, I can't?

Yeah. Why if you could do it or Kane or Brandon or Alexa who do it why I can't? It's just like that everything comes to that, you know. I have enough believing myself that I can do things that I truly believe that I can do, which is go and I'll perform Alexander Volcanovsky. Saturday night and that's what I will do. Yeah. You know, when you

were fighting Josh Imit in that fight, there was a difference about you. I've long watched you from the very beginning, right? When you guys all went to Jackson's and they started teaching these guys and remain wrestling to the ultimate fighter show and you were always one that stood up. Boy, we were lucky to get you guys.

We were lucky to get the Mexican fighters and not those, because y'all beat the shit out of those dudes. They barely ever won fight. It was bad. You guys just were better. And we won so many fights because you guys were so much better. But you had something a little bit different than everybody else, right? So even though it ultimately didn't go your way on that show, you knew that Jaya Rodriguez could be bigger. But in that last fight, dude, there was something different.

Every kick seemed to be thrown with more. Every knee, every elbow. And I knew there was no way Josh Emmett could stand up to that. What was it? What was different in that fight? I think it's a mix of different, it's a formula. You know, first you have your team behind you. In mind that is set into goal and fight for that specific moment

and taking advantage of every moment and situation in there and throwing everything with intent. Yeah, you did. You know, and we could finally put everything together in order for us to get the win and that's what we did. That was expected. We did it. It was like perfect though, right?

Like, could you ever have expected it to be that clean? That performance was, this is Jairr 2.0. It's not the same kid. This is not the same kid that we know on the Ultimate Fighter. It's not the same man that we saw fight Max or Brian Ortega or anyone else. You were just a different guy in that Octagon that night. Yeah, I just think, yeah, it was an excellent performance, but I think I did a couple of mistakes that I shouldn't have done.

And I learned from those mistakes. and of course like I'm already moving on from that you know for me to get better you gotta of course the good things are there everybody can see the good thing yeah but you gotta be your worst or your best judge yeah you know at the end of the day you gotta be able to look at your fights and look at your trainings or on what you're doing wrong right because I of course I put focus on what Alexander Bokanowski does but not that much focus

I already know what's gonna bring to the game I that's not a surprise for nobody but what I can do against myself how can I be beat myself every day. To become the better racial myself, that's up to me. I have to obviously up to my team, but that's what is a personal thing as well. You know, Yair, I remember when Kane fought Verdume in Mexico City. The first time we went to Mexico City, I remember it was like, you were exhausted. You were like, oh my God. But in this camp, you were in Mexico City, training at that altitude. Why go back to Mexico City to prepare for this one? Like, why not finish in Chicago?

You're known for going all kinds of different places, but why go home? Why go to Mexico City to prep at that high altitude? I used like, of course, high elevation training is beneficial for its physical training and the benefits of training in high elevation. That's a part. But the fact that you can be out there don't have any phone service. Yeah. Like, don't have any communication. Cut off. Cut off. three weeks you can do three weeks of cut off everything no internet no nothing basically you know you can go

and have it for moments but not every day not every day every single because we're constantly doing that you can do as people right like yeah the first thing you do in the morning is probably look at your phone you know on there i don't care i don't care about time i don't care about the if he's sunny if it's rainy or i don't give a fuck i just go and do my thing and um i focus 100% on myself you know i And I also had the opportunity to focus on my friends in there, you know. Yeah. My coach who interact like this, interact as persons, no, like, you know, like all the time. Eat dinner without picking up your phone, like just.

Just that. Your bonds become stronger. Exactly. You simple details like that will change everything, you know. And that's why I love being up there playing a game, like a table game or being in the fire in, like the kitchen or whatever. Yeah. Those things I think it changed the concept of the training camp. Yeah.

Right? And that's why I love it. I'm going to let you go. But before I ask you this final question, can I hold it? Yeah. I've been looking at that son of... I've been looking at it the whole time. I want it bad.

I've been wanting to ask for a long time, but I figured it was inappropriate to, like, touch it too long, right? Because we have this rule in the hood. Like, if you got something for like five minutes, it belongs to you. So I wanted to make sure I don't get to keep it, you know? It's mine. So, dude, you're a thrill seeker, scuba diving, bungee jumping. Why?

Why are you chasing this adrenaline when your job is to fight the octagon? I just think that it's probably because I'm adrenaline junkie. And I just like to stay close to the feeling, you know? I don't like, I don't like it to be so far away. And I was like to have that like just right on my hand. like okay I can do these. It's so scary though. Yeah, I mean.

You skydived? Yeah, I have. You jumped out of a plane? Three times, yeah. Is it scary? Your stomach probably just drops out the moment you get out of the plane. What happened before the fight? You're nervous.

Like, you have all these feelings. And then once you start fighting, everything goes to shit, right? You can go, right? It's the same. Right before, like, skydiving, once you're getting prepared to go on flight and all that, you have those feelings. When they open the door and then you can, like, smell the fresh air, coming into the airplane is like oh my god but once you're like

once you're in there you're excited and you're like ready to go and then once you jump boy it's like amazing it's an amazing feeling and scuba diving you go into the ocean just like like at the top or like you go down down have you not seen all these videos with sharks and all this what's like the craziest scuba diving store like have you seen a shark uh no shark i saw um it's called moraine i don't know who it's like uh it's like uh Okay, Amori. Amori? Amori?

Is that a fish? The green eels. It's like green eels? The big one? Yeah, the big, the big one, like the ones that bite you, you're dead. I have seen it like from here to there, to there. You swam away from it scared? No, she was like hiding.

I can only see his head, like her head or whatever. And then the scuba instructor was like, hey, can you see there is signals, you know, going out, went down, this perfect, something's wrong. It's like, hey, take a look at that. Can you see it? I'm like, yeah. Yeah, I can see it. It's like, don't touch it.

You will die. What? I'm like, I'll stay away from that chair. You still go ahead. Let me, let me. You're stripping my ass out of that. Let me get out of here. You stay there, but like, just be careful with those kind of things and that's here.

Everything there is another world is beautiful, you know. Yeah. Incredible. Crazy. This weekend you take on Alexander Volkanowski, man. What's ideal? What is the Cinderella story? We talked, we didn't really talk much about the fight.

What's the perfect ending for you this weekend against Volkanowski? Perfect ending is don't leave it to the refs. Yeah. You know, to the refries. I want to finish the fight in the four-round by TKO. I think that's what's going to happen. Ladies and gentlemen, this is El Pantera, Iyer Rodriguez.

He takes on Alexander Volcanowski in the main event of UFC 290. A bro, it's been an amazing journey. It's been a privilege to watch you come from where you. you started. Tremendous. Good luck this weekend. Thank you, brother. Guys, like, subscribe, tapping to everything, Yaira Rodriguez. Very interesting guy. Tremendous mixed martial artist. Even better man. Until next time, guys, peace. Thanks for checking. Thank you, brother. Appreciate you. Appreciate it. Thank you, man. Oh, boy. This is beautiful. Hand-painted. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced

games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from back. basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

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And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

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Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.