February 7, 2023 3 min read

Yair Rodríguez vs Josh Emmett UFC 284 Odds, Time, and Prediction

With Alexander Volkanovski moving to the lightweight division, the UFC managers have decided to let Yair Rodríguez and Josh Emmett fight for the interim title in the featherweight division

Their fight will serve as the co-main event of UFC 284, which is taking place this coming Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

Yair Rodríguez vs Josh Emmett Odds

MoneylineOdds
Yair Rodríguez-172
Josh Emmett+134

*Odds taken from FanDuel on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.

When, Where, and How to Watch?

  • Place: RAC Arena in Perth, Australia
  • Date: Saturday, February 11, 2023
  • Time: ~10:00 PM ET
  • How to Watch: UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+

Yair Rodríguez Coming to Australia as a Betting Favorite

Yair Rodríguez is 14-3-1 in his professional career and is currently sitting in the No. 2 position in the UFC Featherweight rankings. He’s 3-2-1 in his last six fights, with his most recent fight resulting in a TKO win over Brian Ortega in Round 1.

Still, he won that fight only after his opponent suffered a shoulder injury which rendered him incapable of continuing. Nevertheless, he does have an impressive portfolio, with wins over such elite fighters as Jeremy Stephens, Chan-sung Jung, and others. 

Rodríguez is a well-rounded fighter with amazing stamina, which makes him one of the top flyweight fighters in the world. That’s why it’s no surprise he was given a title shot, but there’s a big question about whether he can take it.

Josh Emmett Deserves More Recognition

Josh Emmett is 18-2 overall with five straight wins in the UFC. During his surge, he defeated Michael Johnson and Mirsad Bektic by KO/TKO, as well as Shane Burgos, Dan Ige, and Calvin Kattar by decision.

Same as Rodríguez, Emmett too is a well-rounded fighter. He’s a great wrestler, who used to compete in NAIA wrestling. Emmett also has a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which he’s been using mostly to defend. His main offensive weapon, however, is striking.

He lands powerful punches that can put practically any other featherweight to the ground. The evidence of this is that in his UFC career, he’s recorded 11 knockdowns, three of which resulted in a knockout win.

Yair Rodríguez vs Josh Emmett Prediction

Yair Rodríguez has better fight stats than Josh Emmett, including things like striking accuracy, number of significant strikes per minute, takedown defense, and so on. Still, the fact is that Emmett has fought much tougher opponents (at least in recent times) than Rodríguez. He’s also on a much better run than his Mexican rival, which is why we think an upset might happen.

Pick: Josh Emmett to win by decision

Journalist

Jessie is our resident sports specialist with over 4 years of experience in sports journalism. She's worked with several prominent online sports news outlets in the past and has accrued specialist insight across a wide range of sports markets. Combined with her own love and excitement of sports, having competed at a national level during college, she aims to improve sports coverage value for our readers at GamblingNews.

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