Dan Hooker has offered his take on an upcoming featherweight clash between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez on July 16.
The highly anticipated bout, scheduled to headline UFC on ABC 3 in Long Island, is an important top-of-the-division meeting that, by Hooker’s estimation, may well have title implications at 145-pounds. He believes a statement win could leapfrog the victor into title contention ahead of current #1 contender Josh Emmett.
‘The Hangman’ is genuinely intrigued by the pairing, but suggested Rodriguez’s all-around versatility will likely prove difficult for ‘T-City’ to overcome.
“I just think the striking of Yair will just be too much. Just the versatility in his striking will be a little too much for Ortega,” Hooker said on the latest episode of The AllStar MMA Live show.
“I know [Yair] throws a lot of flashy kicks,” he continued, intending to clarify his statement. “But that’s not what I’m saying when I say, like, versatile.”
“I say versatility – [for me], for Yair – is like, he can fight going forwards, he can fight moving backwards. He can fight orthodox, he can fight southpaw. He can be a kicker, he can look to box… He’s versatile in so many different aspects of mixed martial arts. So he’s a lot more unpredictable…”
“He’s versatile in so many different aspects of mixed martial arts.”
Dan Hooker on Yair Rodriguez
The New Zealand native isn’t sure the same can be said about Ortega though, despite his recent virtuoso performance opposite The Korean Zombie. He feels the 31-year-old continually falls into repetitive habits, and that makes him far too predictable for someone like Rodriguez.
“Brian Ortega’s been pretty consistent. He’s obviously had some very impressive performances against Korean Zombie and the likes… But he didn’t do anything we hadn’t really seen before. He’s just very good at what he does, and maybe Korean Zombie wasn’t as versatile enough to adjust and move away.”
“But Yair on the other hand, I feel like he is. I feel like he is versatile enough to chop and change and pick the right tools – and he’s got the right coaching staff around him to make the right adjustments and bring the right weapons to the table.”
When the conversation turned to Ortega’s ground game, Hooker dismissed hunting for a submission win as a simple path to victory for the American, citing Rodriguez’s high-level defensive wrestling as a significant roadblock for that type of game-plan.
“Yair’s spent a lot of time wrestling with, obviously, Izzy Style Wrestling. He spent years and years working on his craft, and his takedown defence as well. I don’t feel like Ortega will have the wrestling chops to drag Yair to the ground…”
In spite of giving a clear edge to the Mexican in most areas of the fight, Hooker attested that there’s still a pathway to victory for ‘T-City’ – but it will be no easy road.
“I feel like if Ortega wants to get the jump on Yair, he really needs to push the pace. Because obviously, Yair’s style, he covers a lot of distance with his strikes. Throws a lot of spinning attacks, jumping attacks and stuff like that – it’s very high energy. It’s really hard to keep that output going for 25 minutes. So I feel like if Ortega’s gonna get the job done, he’s gonna need to start pressing Yair and pressuring him early…”
“But if [he], you know, does what he usually does, like starts out light on his feet, bouncing, fighting behind his jab – then I feel like Yair can kind of sit back and spend a little more time getting his timing down… Ortega, what he can bring to the table is just a bit more limited than what Yair brings to the table.”
Fighter profile
Brian “T-City” Ortega is a 31-year-old male fighter from the United States with 15 pro wins and 2 losses. Ortega is scheduled to fight Yair Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. Rodriguez on Saturday, July 16, 2022.
Brian Ortega’s recent form coming into this matchup

Brian Ortega has gone 3-2 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.
- Loss vs Alexander Volkanovski • Decision R5 5:00 • 2021-09-25
- Win vs Chan Sung Jung • Decision R5 5:00 • 2020-10-17
- Loss vs Max Holloway • KO/TKO R4 5:00 • 2018-12-08
- Win vs Frankie Edgar • KO/TKO R1 4:44 • 2018-03-03
- Win vs Cub Swanson • Submission R2 3:22 • 2017-12-09
Brian Ortega’s next opponent: Yair “El Pantera” Rodriguez

Yair “El Pantera” Rodriguez’s recent form coming into this matchup
Yair “El Pantera” Rodriguez is a 29-year-old male fighter from Mexico with 13 pro wins and 3 losses. Rodriguez is scheduled to fight Brian Ortega at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. Rodriguez on Saturday July 16, 2022.

Yair Rodriguez has gone 2-2 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.
- Loss vs Max Holloway • Decision R5 5:00 • 2021-11-13
- Win vs Jeremy Stephens • Decision R3 5:00 • 2019-10-18
- No Contest vs Jeremy Stephens • R1 0:15 • 2019-09-21
- Win vs Chan Sung Jung • KO/TKO R5 4:59 • 2018-11-10
- Loss vs Frankie Edgar • KO/TKO R2 5:00 • 2017-05-13
How to watch and bet on Brian Ortega vs Yair Rodriguez
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