Yair ‘El Pantera’ Rodríguez Film Study
Yair ‘El Pantera’ Rodríguez is a 23-year-old Mexican mixed martial artist and Taekwondo black belt currently competing in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He was the featherweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America.
Yair is a tall Featherweight (145 lb (66 kg)) at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) with a long reach 71 in (180 cm). The Black belt in Taekwondo fights out of Ragnarok MMA in Chicago, Illinois (United States) and has also spent some time at Jackson – Winkeljohn Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. [wikipedia.org]
Often described as a “risk-taker” for his high-flying and unorthodox attacks and grappling style inside the cage, as well, Rodriguez has a chance to great things in the UFC/MMA, and many are calling him the future of the featherweight division. He is 7 – 1 in his professional career and has not lost yet in the UFC.
Here I will breakdown many of his techniques, with a *DISCLAIMER* that this is very high-level athleticism and not recommended for anyone less than advanced in their martial arts career.
‘El Pantera’ (The Panther) said of his training regimen “I wake up at 8 am, my first practice of the day starts at 10 am, and every day is different. In the morning, Monday and Thursday is jiu-jitsu, Tuesday and Friday is wrestling and Wednesday sparring. I have been travelling to Champaign, Illinois on the weekends for my wrestling with Mark Perry, and every day in the afternoon, I hit pads with coach Mike Valle. Also for this fight, a lot of guys helped me, like Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas and Jesse Delgado, two-time NCAA wrestling champ.” [ufc.com]