Max Holloway vs Yair Rodriguez exceeded all expectations as Yair showed up after a 2-year layoff and gave Max all he can handle. Let's break this down...
0:00 - Breakdown
11:22 - Yair is a Genius
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No losers in this fight. Yair's fight IQ impressed more than anything.
Yea his game plan of breaking his own foot was genius. That roidhead threw everything he possibly could and it wasn't good enough so stop riding his nuts
@@bushisback112 🤡
@@bushisback112 who’s the roidhead?
I think Rodriguez lost. Quite clearly.
@@bushisback112 -someone who has never even punched a heavy bag before
Has weasle ever missed a chance to say "straight punches beating looping punches"?
It's Weasel's catchphrase
I mean he has t-shirts with that phrase on them 😆
Straight facts beat looping facts
@@Chatgbt221 Ik it brother. Just banter.
It gives me "-Emia, meaning presence in blood" vibes.
I fear the day Max's chin finally betrays him.
I hate to say it, but if he keeps eating damage like this, it'll be sooner than later.
Yeah I worry he’ll end up like Tony Ferguson
I’ve been saying that😭
Dude needs to train with Trevor Wittman, work on that striking defense!
Oh, it's gonna happen. He's taken FAR too much damage already.
Yair shouldn't have abandoned the kicks but he probably stopped because his foot was also taking damage.
If not damaged foot, it would be game over for Max. At least at score cards.
His foot was actually a balloon
@@pauliusk7566 his foot was hurt because he kept kicking tho lol that’s why he stopped
Paulius K yeah Yair’s kicks are next level, max really didn’t have much for em
He gives one kick, he takes 2 punches. 😅😅 Yair protects his head, Max attacks the body. When he protects the body, his face got punched. It would be super annoying.
I was really impressed with Yair’s head movement.
reminded me canelo a bit
Yeah he’s been watching Canelo. Especially, the rolling with the punches technique. His hands really improved.
He was working with Edmond...lmao
💯
Did you not see his face after?
Wouldn’t mind seeing Max take less shots going into his 30’s. He’s my favorite fighter
Same here man, dude has a granite chin but that comes with an expiration date and a lifetime of issues after. Can't imagine being his wife and kid there ringside watching him eat those heavy shots and just pressing forward for more
He needs to learn some striking defense...I mean just a little would be nice.
He has pillow hands and can't finish anyone so his fights almost always go the distance. He will take damage in long fights.
Max looked scary bad when they pulled him from a fight cause stroke like symptoms. Dude recovered well.
@@shaunr5450 max puts his life on the line for our entertainment (like every fighter does) and you talk shit about him in KZhead comments. If you're a fan of the sport, show some respect..
Max's chin probably had a conversation with him after this fight on being done with this
Did you see no reason to do a breakdown of Yan vs Sandhagen? That’s the fight I was most looking forward to seeing you break down
Fights like tat prolly take time. N there were a ton of good fights this past couple of weeks
@@CoolnessOver-vf4mm this is my hope exactly, my friend.
i mean it was clear for yan…
@@gaspar6632 I think he means breaking down the technique not who won
@@gaspar6632 absolutely. I would even give him every round but the second, despite the “significant strike” discrepancy. However, there was some high level chess going on with Yan adjusting and switching to a more power attack to avoId the latitudinal changes of Sandhagen. I’m more inclined to see him give his breakdown than to just simply enjoy doing it myself while on the elliptical, sir
I don’t know how Max was able to eat all those legs kicks and still walk fine
Combination of natural high pain tollerance and insane mental toughness i'd say. But he's not gonna walk much the coming 2 weeks thats for sure
His wife and kid were there
Samoan bone density aka warrior genetics
@@meesert I think his nerves might just be placed differently , volanovski beat his leg up bad in the first fight and max was in the club dancing later that night . As if his leg was perfectly fine
@@TheAnimefool bro he was walking around perfectly fine after this one it’s insane
Alright let’s get this show started.
In covid? Thats fucking illegal.
I jizzaprove one hudren percen
That’s FUCKING illegal
What a goat
I was impressed by Yair's cardio, but his grappling is extremely worrysome, if Max can take you down like that and control you then what Volkanovski, Evloev, Mitchell, Ortega, Zabit or even Ige and Emmett are going to do to you ?
Yair has good cardio cuz he a juice head
@@LiterallyRiggtarded Has he failed a drug test? His speed seems almost unnatural but I'm not discounting he could just be a genetic freak in that regard.
@@TheAbsoluteSir well he is Mexican, usually have really good cardio
Zabit would have mopped the floor with him
@@LiterallyRiggtarded Your moms a juice head
Respect went up so much for Yair Considering it was a pretty tough fight for Max that's saying something about how good Yair is
Might be the toughest fight he has won.
@@jammatati3844 definitely, I honestly had it 1 and 5 for Yair with round 2 being highly contestable
@@jammatati3844 i arguably thought max lost. Man took more damage with bigger shots but his chin made out of titanium
@@sourpatchkid87 1 and 5 for sure and i honestly love max but i think he lost that fight. Strikes were on his favor but the damage he took with those big shots gave the edge to yair in my opinion. Anyone other than max would be knocked out with the shots he took
@@irv_n3373 not mad with the decision but you could’ve given Yair round 1-2 and 5 low-key but aye close fight not a robbery
Yarear did freaking great for being out 2 years!!!! 👏🏽
YAYURR DID SO GREAT FORREAL
YAH EAR's stock went up
Abdul Rehman YahRairs stock went up
He did well even if you don't consider that 2 year break
@@surajkumar-gx6gf he went blow for blow against one of the 3 featherweight GOATS.... Stock going up for that boi
As a Holloway die hard (headliner first event I went too), I worry about the chin. Makes me think Tony Ferguson once it gets cracked. That being said he is only 29 whereas as Tony was much older. It''s like a Diaz thing. Great fight.
@CT he doesn’t have strong defense. he’s an extremely offensively minded fighter and arguably among the best at it, but his defense is lacking. he’s relying on his chin quite a lot & that’s a dangerous game to play as your career goes on.
Luckily he doesn’t spar.
@@bean5618 people don’t think about that, he takes a few big hits a couple times a year. A lot of people are sparring hard for most the year constantly getting their head rattled
Man I'd hate to think of the CTE Max would be suffering from years from now.
When I think of a fighters chin giving in I think about Chuck Liddell getting knocked out by Rampage, and then he's never the same, keeps getting knocked out. Tony still ain't been knocked out even with all he took from Justin.
You forgot when Yair haven't kicked to the calf, so Max did, to remind Yair to throw, and by knowing that the kick is coming, Max stepped in, to take him down. That was genius.
Exactly! Max proved once more how high his fight IQ is and how well he can mix the martial arts. Just incredible.
I saw that happen in real time I love that shit
Exactly and that takedown off the leg kick made Yair slow down a lot with it.
The guy was just literally talking about Rodriguez and downplaying what halloway did
Max took 50 calf kicks from a master kicker and in the end did more damage to Yair than himself
Yea...it will be another 2 years before he fights again..
@@uriwo7292 meaning the calf kicks did more damage to Yair, because his foot was completely fucked
@@ThaTruth223 in fucking weird right? What is Max made out of?
@@iflex1963 yair did more damage to the heading max. Holloway’s pillow shots
Yair did more damage to the head. Holloway got rocked many time’s, the foot will be fine. The brain is the real damage holloway fan boy
Wow! What a fight. They deserve the payday. Yair considering being out for 2 years was brilliant and Max? What an engine. I loved this fight. Kudos to two warriors. I hope it's not 2 year's before we see Yair again!
Crazy how Max only fought 2 times this year and both were probably my favorite fights of the year hands down, props to Yair as well after a 2 year lay off, hope Yair recovers quickly cause I would love to see him back I'm the cage to start the new year off
kept busy dodging USADA
Did you see his foot?? He gonna need some time off
It’s hard to believe both dudes are just 29 yrs . The best is Blessed🔥🔥🔥
Ik max has just been around for so long lmao you’d think he’s into his 30s by now
@@MultiBluedog123 I feel bad for max, he's gonna have really bad CTE when it's all said and done ,his style lacks good defense and he takes too many shots
I expected a candidate for fight of the year, and a master class of striking, I'm more than impressed Max is right, if you know someone that doesn't know what MMA is, show him this fight and let magic happens
There's alot of foty candidates for 2021 tbh, volk vs ortega, justin vs chandler andax vs yair
@@reee_4067 yan vs sandhagen as well
@@reee_4067 fiziev vs green, riddel vs dober
@@reee_4067 also costa vs vettori was crazy
For me, it's between Gaethe vs Chandler, Volk vs Ortega, Yan vs Sandhagen and Chandler vs Oliveira
Some salty people in these comments because they thought it would be a repeat of Max's last fight but Yair made it a great fight
Just how good is Alexander volkanovski
Volkanovski lost the second fight
@@hae-in1753 He won the last 3 rounds tho 🤔
@@hae-in1753 no Holloway won 2 rounds and volko won 3. So therefore volko won
Pretty damn good, but sadly overlooked because he's not as marketable or as charismatic as Max. Deep down I believe the UFC and Dana White never wanted him to become champion.
@@hae-in1753 weasle showed volk won lol 😂
Holloway faced much adversity but proved in the end that the best is blessed LET’S GO!
Belt or no belt, win or lose, Max is my favorite fighter to watch and the one that gives me the most thrills. What an artist. ..
Couldn't agree more, my friend. I rue the day all of this damage catches up to him, though.
I'm pretty sure Yair kept training for the 2 years he was out for. Coming back against someone in form like Max Holloway and stealing few rounds from him and going to war is no joke. Most get their asses handed to Max.
Tbh the only round Yair got his ass beat was the round he broke his foot and fell down(I think it was round 3). To outstrike and outdamage Max like that in the early rounds was seriously impressive.
Obviously, he didn’t spend 2 years on his couch and decided to come back against Max Holloway
This card was good, is crazy how ufc is ending the year with Amazing cards back to back.
So true, these fighters had been chilling too much thru Covid
they always do! well try at least
I only watched the first 3 fights, which were all finishes, then the co-main and the main event. I fell asleep during the middle fights haha but yeah sick card from what I saw
Usually every UFC card has something worth watching
@@Noah-pk7tf European huh? Yeah the time zones are rough on us my brother lol
Yair's head movement/ability to roll with punches was incredibly impressive this fight... and without a doubt kept him in the fight on multiple occasions. Some of the shots he shoulder rolled would have resulted in a KO/TKO for sure. If only we could see a bit more of that from Max.
I thought Max would run through him with ease. I was completely wrong. Yair did fantastic
Couldn't agree more!
Yair put on a fantastic performance. He should be proud
You missed the Elbow from Yair that cut Max over right eyebrow and made him bleed. That was one moment I thought if the Cut gets too bad, a doctor stoppage might come into play but Max handled it well!! Incredibly impressed with how Max took so many leg kicks in 1st round but didn't slow down one bit..it would've crippled most other fighters. Their Grappling transitions were impressive too!!
Max is just built different many fighters would’ve gave in with the amount of leg damage he took but he just walked through it
That's what a real fighter does... If pain makes a fighter quit they really need to find another line of work
@@stoicsavage509 Just by reading this, I can tell you've never been leg kicked in your life.
@@dustingaethje1332 hahahaha 😆
@@dustingaethje1332 I've had 19 Muay Thai bouts dummy
@@dustingaethje1332 from reading your response I can see you could never be a fighter 💪
honestly am worried for max's brain a bit
He stopped sparring in training so he should be fine. Hopefully. And he also rolls with punches pretty well.
CTE is no joke.
His brain is better off than a lot of other fighters since he doesn’t spar like they do
22 minutes of praising the loser of the fight, who lost 4, admittedly extremely close rounds just goes to show how great Holloway is.
This is a biased take for sure. Half of his opinions aren't based in reality.
This is facts...
That's a bit of simplistic take, Yair arguably won two rounds (1 and 5). It shows that Yair is a lot better than we thought he was, it also showcases that Max isn't invincible and can be beaten by the top contenders with the right style and game-plan. The game could very well be catching up to him and Volk, just look at all these killers in the division.
Kek true
@@madgavin7568 not volko it seems like volk improved IMO but we will see.
Man God bless Max and Yair for the pure violence they provided for our entertainment
Rodriguez raised his stock tonight BIGTIME! Max, well he's always Max. Great fight all the way around. The thing I love about Max. If he sniffs a single, tiny little bit of fatigue or damage to his opponent, he turns up the heat. He will smother you with punches. One thing you can always count on when fighting Max. You will not be allowed to rest, relax, or reset at any time. Maybe between rounds. But when the timer is running, Max is pressuring. Jair Rodriguez has some of the most sneaky counter tactics I've ever seen. And they come from the most unorthodox places.
Yeah, I've always thought Max is like a more talented & intelligent version of Nate Diaz.
Chikadze will beat max if max does not check low kicks in a 3 rounder.
max will never fight 3 rounds again, bad take
I did not underestimate Yair at all. I really thought he had what it takes and if Max wasn't so good in either stance he would have been in big trouble. Re chins Yair is amazing at moving with his op's strike just enough to take something off it, but Max just can't be hurt, his chin is for the ages. Honestly, Max is virtually unstoppable. Well done to both; and Max showing his grappling and jiu jitsu when he needed was straight champ shit. What a fight!
Commentators missed a few checked kicks which I think stopped Yair throwing the kicks also His foot was a balloon
Always a treat, Weasle. You have a THIRD EYE 👁️ when it comes to these details. Great job, as always!!!
Dude you’re fast every time with breakdowns and the quality is not compromised ! Respect!
I think the podcast really helps with that. He's very good talking off the cusp, no script or prep work needed. And that really helps with churning out fast content.
So I think we all can agree that Yair has a pretty decent chance of beating Giga Kattar winner
Giga is very good, would be a good fight. I like Ortega vs Yair next
Nah i think we can all agree that giga has a good chance of beating max
@@tyquilwoodley6285 that too
Giga is no joke he could probably put max out
Yair beats Kattar for sure but probably loses to Giga.
The first 5 minute of this you woulda thought Yair dominated him. I understand the narrative makes things relative but you can’t forget what actually happened
Thank you for the breakdown man. I noticed about half of what you pointed out, but I love when you show things that I would never come close to seeing. Good shit brother.
* In Conor's voice* Yair's foot was a balloon 🎈 you had to see it
Yair's foot came out of the socket
Haha, yeah. When they showed his foot, I turned to my girlfriend and said "Holy shit, it looks like a clown made a foot-shaped balloon animal!" She laughed and called me a "f%cking dork." And she was right.
@@Strype13 she a keeper yoo 👏
Was cool to see max going for take downs and actually doing well on the ground I thought.
It’s crazier to think , that their standup was canceling each other out so much that max had to turn wrestler
@@samg9529 Max saw Edgars blueprint getting an easy win off Yair with wrestling, but Yair closed the gap and got a lot better at wrestling since then. Cool to see when a fighter learns from a loss and works on a weakness.
Yeah, I enjoyed that as well!
Is more easy takedown a fighter with a broken foot.
Watching this video and reading the comments, you would think Yair won this fight.
I was waiting for Weasle to talk about Max but dude never stop talking about what Yair did right. idk, seems pretty bias to me considering Max won lol
Weasel, you are the best. I enjoy your breakdowns as much as the fights, and the fights much more because of what I’m learning from your breakdowns.
Been waiting for this video! Such a great fight! I definitely thought about what you'd say when I saw those odds live
Man! For yair to come back after 2 years and putting on a performance like that. A 5 rounder with zabit won't be as onesided as people believe. Infact I'd even go with yair on that one
What about Yair vs Kattar?
Iam still going with Zabit pretty comfortably. Max his offensive wrestling isn't anything special and he took down Yair with ease. And controlled him with ease, you dont want a bigger guy like Zabit who has way higher level grappeling taking you down. Plus Zabit from what we have seen is also really durable. Broken hand before the fight even starts? No problem still dominates his opponent. Striking wise it would be close but when it hits the ground Yair ain't surviving it
Doubt Zabit fights this year, maybe next year and maybe by the end of the year to work on his cardio and grappling. 145 is lacking great grapplers, same like in middleweight
@@MegaZack61 Zabit gases though.
@@MegaZack61 max has amazing take down defence and yair took him down with ease. Why? Element of suprise you don't expect a striker to wrestle. Same thing happened to yair. Who tf expects max to wrestle?
Seems like Yair got better with 2 years off,he was actually training and being focused and this fight proved it,many thought Max would run over Yair easily,but this was a tough fight for Max
Love your commentary of the fights. Analytical, technical, lively, interesting, knowledgeable, insightful. Thanks for sharing
Man I love yair's style so much man. I did TKD for years, and it's awesome to see someone bring those techniques into the octagon at a high level.
I love how your breakdowns and analysis’ of fights makes josh Thomson sound like a casual lmao.
Yeah, I've never been a fan of Josh Thomson. His analyses have always felt sub-par to me. No offense to him, but he just doesn't really come across as being very bright. Weasle, on the other hand, is a downright genius when it comes combat sport analytics.
@@Strype13 josh Thomson would say nearly every episode that you have to throw more than 4 punch combinations while walking forwards to land. How fucking stupid is that sort of advice coming from a former fighter? I couldn’t wrap my head around that he would say that about fighters who made it further than him.
U always remember weasels favorite line when im sparring, "straight punches beat looping punches" hes gotten that through my head in last couple years lol
i love your breakdowns awesome work.
The Weasles Breakdown Put A Totally Different Prespective on this fight Brilliant 👏!!
Yair’s boxing was incredible, clearly an awkward miss match for max. However he adapted well
One of the fights of the year to me
Those little boom sounds with the punches landed add so much flavour to the breakdown haha don't know if you've been using them the whole time but they're awesome, good stuff as always my man
I have just been getting into mma over the last couple years, and your break downs just make so much sense man.
a fighter can't take many fights like this without shortening their careers. the effects are cumulative...
For Yair yes.....Max is made of Mahoney...
This fight will go down in history for numerous reasons. So glad to see that the mastermind known as Teddy Atlas is full on with recognizing the quality fights within MMA. Cheers.
This was one of those fights that really give you a chance to showcase what you do best here on your channel. Great fight, amazing fighters and one hell of a breakdown.
A plethora of details in yet another fantastic breakdown to add to the plethora of fantastic content you've created
I’ve been saying it all along obviously max was the favorite to win And I picked him to win but You guys completely Underestimated Yair and write him off. I understand How good Holloway is but Yair could put anyone’s light out. But what a war Ik this would Be such a banger 🔥
Who can't count out steroid user Yair. That steroid power.
I think Max not hard sparring at all during his camps plays a huge factor in his durability. He’s not wearing down his body during training so he’s going in to the fights super fresh with no injuries and taking unnecessary damage.
His taking damage look up how many times he has been hit in his fight with the Mexican. He has to start sparring so that mistakes are made in camp not in fights.
Weazin the juice! The weasel has the best breakdowns imo 😎
Top notch breakdown once again 👌
Hey, I thought Yair did great too. But was there anything worthy of praise for the actual winner of the fight 😂
Haha I know right! Listening to the breakdown u might think Yair wins the fight
@@jandijkstra96 arguably yair won rounds 1, 2, and 5
You literally skipped to the moments Yair won and skipped 4 rounds of Holloway. I’m 10 minutes in and I’d have thought Yair destroyed him. You lost me on this one bro.
Exactly
The Woodchuck is Mexican...
@@iflex1963 I thought he was Asian
@@iflex1963 called em a woodchuck lmao
Weasel becoming a legend in the fight break down game. Been watching your vids for 2 years keep it up kid.
This video is great perfect fight break down is top notch quality
Yair leveled up and showed me more than expected. He gained my respect ✊🏽
Man I hope everyone understands how lucky we are to have the UFC in hybrid era of sports. With everything be watered downed or softened the UFC is as Brutal as it gets… long live the just bleed
Cringe 😬
love the midnight uploads
Awesome breakdown. Great fight and was close.
Awesome fight man. I loved seeing Yair back, He's always so awesome to watch. I knew we were in for a classic with these two going to battle.
Yair turned Holloway into a wrestler idc Best boxer in the UFC my ass lmao
It’s mma!!!! Max’s boxing skills are top level but he switched up due to kicks. Pay attention son
@@dgillian183 nice try to gaslight but that argument has nothing to do with mine
This is a great breakdown
This fight was worth the wait!
You made it sound like Max was out classed and lost to Yair.
Tbh he did got outclassed but his toughness allow him to push through and win the fight
Isnt Yair rank 3? Lol I'm confused how everybody was writing him off. Just makes no sense, Max is just an animal. I still believe he won the last fight against Alexander. Nobody can make me think different, he should have the belt.
As others said he hasn't fought for two years. His last win was Jeremy Stephens who really shouldn't be fighting people at that level anymore, and despite looking very good the first two rounds and almost getting a finish, was completely gassed by the third round. If Stephens had better fight IQ, it might have been a draw. Before that he beat KZ, and was losing that fight until that miraculous last second KO. He didn't really deserve the rank, but I think he has proved he belongs there.
Outstanding breakdown!👍
Great breakdown.💪
Weasle could you do a breakdown of this fight round by round? Jair’s coaches were telling him to abandon the gameplan, go crazy and go for a needed ko. But when you see the cards 2 of the judges had it 38-38 going into the 5th.
Still good advice
No judge had it 38-38 going into the fifth. Max was already up 3 rounds to 1 on every scorecard by then. Only difference is which of the first two rounds they gave to Yair.
If that was the case, Yair would have won the split decision, since every judge scored the 5th to him.
@@Thekingofgodofwar wait the judges actually gave yair the first two rounds? I had yair 1, 2, 5 so im guessing they gave max the 5th?
@@irv_n3373 funnily enough, one judge gave him the first and another judge gave him the second. He unanimously won the fifth.
Hey Weasle, would you mind doing an in-depth breakdown of rds 1 and 2. I thought rds 3 & 4 were pretty clear for Max. Rd 5 was Yair's rd for sure. The first two rds were very very close, and I think it was rd 2 where Yair landed that flying knee and sneaky elbow. I had it 3-2 for max winning rds 1,3,4 but a friend of mine had rd 1 for Yair and thought Yair won taking rds 1,2,5. If you have the time I reckon it would be an interesting breakdown. Amazing fight, FOTY contender and much more technical with incredible reads and adjustments than the Justin-Chandler fight where only Justin was being technical and Chandler was relying on theatrics after rd 1.
going in to round 5 i thought it was 2-2. corner telling yair he had to KO max to win and the commentators had me second guessing that though. i think max won round 5 too.
@@sigmachud9092 Well, that backs up the idea that an in-depth "Who won"" breakdown would be an interesting watch.
Yea we need a more in depth break down cause i have yair 1, 2, and 5. Unified rules says damage trumps all and i feel like holloway huge blows that honestly anyone else would probably be Koed
Hell yeah I've been waiting for this one 😁
I'm really enjoying these breakdowns. You, Mr Weasle, have some good fight IQ, yourself. What an incredible fight
you’d swear yair won the way you’re talking
Max depends on his chin a whole lot. He's definitely going to be in shape where he can take a whole lot, but he def got hit wayyyyyy too much in this fight. He needs to start defending the low kicks better and move his head on defense or he'll get edged out a third time against Volk.
That fake takedown > shove to bounce Yair off the cage > flying knee combo was absolutely beautiful to watch.
That fake takedown > shove to bounce him off the cage > flying knee combo was absolutely beautiful to watch.
Great show of heart, grit, skill, and toughness by both fighters, huge respect for those two warriors. After that win, Max Holloway should definitely be next in line for another title shot from the champion Alexander Volkanovski.
He already had his chance. The second title shot was not deserve, he only got it because he has a lot a fan. Does Blachowitz or Mioccic had an immediate rematch after their loss ?
Stipe got robbed.... Everyone wants to see the trilogy but dana is a pos
Yair kick placement is crazy
Was waiting for this one ☝🏻
Excellent breakdown Weasel. I thought if the fight hadn't gone to the ground, it would have been alot closer. Would love to see a rematch down the road when Yair isn't coming off a 2 yr layoff. Once it went to the ground, Yair stopped throwing leg kicks and his unpredictable style became more predictable. Amazing fight
7:44 what?? did you watch that fight? or just the highlight reel? Conor injured his knee early in the fight and most of the fight was on the ground. Sure it's true to some extent but Max was a completely different fighter back then
honestly I didn't know much about Yair, but once I heard his walkout song I knew it was about to be a scrap! If you know you know.
That Mexican music huh 😂
Beautiful take. Only KZhead channel with this kind of breakdown.
Great analysis, thank you!