What does it truly mean to be Mexican? Is it the bloodline, the land, or simply the deep-rooted love for the nation? For Yair Rodriguez, it’s not about where you live—it’s about how you represent the culture. So when Diego Lopes, born in Brazil, claims the Mexican identity, it strikes a nerve. Rodriguez sees it as misrepresentation, and the tension boiled over at UFC 314 media day, sparking a fiery rivalry. Caught in the crossfire? None other than reigning champ Alexa Grasso— who is worried about both the fighters.
Rodriguez has called out Diego Lopes for representing Mexico despite his Brazilian roots. According to the former title challenger, he considers himself much more of a Mexican than Lopes. And when a reporter asked if they could potentially fight each other at the UFC event in Guadalajara for the Mexican Independence Day card, things got pretty heated as Lopes disrespected Rodriguez by saying, “How many losses does he have in a row?” In response to Lopes’s attack, ‘El Pantera’ said, “Culon,” which means p—y in English.
As soon as Rodriguez uttered those words, Diego Lopes stood up and confronted him, saying, ‘Say it to my face.’ Both men then rose to engage in a heated war of words. The security had to intervene to pull both of them away from each other as, for a moment, it appeared that Rodriguez would throw his hands on Lopes. As the dust settled, the UFC got a new rivalry. Amidst this chaos, Alexa Grasso came forward to make a truce between these fighters. The former women’s flyweight champion took to her Instagram handle to share the altercation with a caption that read, “NOOOO! Please Don’t fight”
Now, you might wonder why Grasso is saying these words. Well, the former women’s flyweight champion is close to Diego Lopes as she trains under her, but what is her relationship with Yair Rodriguez? Apart from being from the same country, Alexa Grasso and ‘El Pantera’ share a much deeper connection. Both of them were rumoured to be dating each other back in 2019. They have been seen together at various events, which also include the inauguration of a UFC Gym in Mexico and the 2016 MTV Millennial Awards.
It must be noted that none of them publicly confirmed being in a relationship, but the rumors were strong. Both Lopes and Rodriguez are close to him, and it’s only natural that she would feel sad if they were to clash. However, Rodriguez might have done this knowingly. Why, you might ask? Well, Diego Lopes is the front-runner to win the featherweight belt, and if ‘El Pantera’ banters with Lopes ahead of his title fight, then there’s a huge chance that the UFC might put him at the high table against Lopes.
If this is the truth, then Rodriguez just hit the jackpot, as he might be the next for the title if Lopes wins his fight against Alexander Volkanovski. Well, we have an update about what happened after the face-off. Let us have a look at it.
Diego Lopes flexes multilingual abilities to Yair Rodriguez
After their back-and-forth, the UFC had to separate them and ensure they wouldn’t cross paths again until fight night. Diego Lopes took the banter a bit too personally, as he took to his X handle to flex his linguistic abilities. He added, “English Portugués Español .” Will these words affect ‘El Pantera’? Certainly not, as Rodriguez has been representing Mexico within the MMA world for over a decade now. In the same media day discussion, Rodriguez added, “I’m not going to say I’m American just because I live here. I’m not. I’m Mexican, and I’m proud of it
Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez share a little-known history. The Brazilian-Mexican fighter defeated Rodriguez’s teammate, Marco Beltran, six years ago at LUX Fighting. Billed as the first super-fight in the Mexicana promotion, Diego Lopes didn’t even make five rounds to finish Beltran. The soon-to-be-UFC featherweight title contender beautifully defeated Beltran to nearly finish his fighting career.
Yair Rodriguez has held these thoughts for long enough to let him all out on Diego Lopes. Given that, do you think this altercation will amount to a full-fledged fight? State your opinion in the comments below.
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