Meet Yair Rodriguez, the UFC 290 star who trains at an ancient Aztec temple above sea level looking to beat Volkanovski
YAIR RODRIGUEZ has prepared for the biggest fight of his life by channelling the spirits of ancient Aztec warriors.
The high-flying Taekwondo whizz will look to continue Mexico's mixed martial arts takeover tonight by dethroning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 290 in Las Vegas.
Preparations for the biggest fight of El Pantera's life have - as they have done in recent years - taken place in a unique and spiritual setting.
For the last few years, Rodriguez and his team have made an ancient Aztec temple - which is situated 10,000 feet above sea level - their base for gruelling and arduous training camps.
Training at altitude has done wonders for Rodriguez's cardiovascular endurance in recent years.
But this time around, he's drawn strength from the fearsome warriors who once dwelled there.
He told SunSport: "I feel that [I draw spiritual strength from there].
";You have the spirit of the warriors that used to live in that area.
"But also, you have the peace of being in the forest with no phone service at a high elevation place where even walking is difficult.
"Getting to sleep the first couple of days, two or three days, is hard.
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"You have only the basic stuff and getting away from everything is just something that I love.
"Because it gets me so focused on something that I so love to do and that's why I love going up there."
A win over Volkanovski will cap off an incredible six months for Mexican mixed martial arts - which is booming thanks to men's and women's flyweight champions Brandon Moreno and Alexa Grasso.
And Rodriguez is all too aware of what a win in Sin City would mean for his hometown of Parral - a small town with just over 100,000 inhabitants.
"I think it would mean a lot," he said. "It will be huge for everybody, not only in my hometown but in Mexico.
"Especially in my hometown, having a champion would be huge.
You have the spirit of the warriors that used to live in that area.
Yair Rodriguez on training at an Aztec temple
"It's something that would put my City on the map 100 per cent. But this is more of a personal goal to do this."
Challenging for UFC gold in the biggest card of the year something Rodriguez never envisaged when he began his professional MMA career 12 years ago.
The 30-year-old got himself back into title contention with back-to-back wins over Brian Ortega and Josh Emmett, the latter of which bagged him the interim featherweight gold.
But the prospect of competing for a title seemed like a pipe dream five years ago when he was unceremoniously cut from the promotion.
"I felt most at risk when I got injured several times," he admitted.
"I broke my ankle and I broke my rib and I was fired from the UFC.
"At that point in my career, that's when I felt like what you said [vulnerable]."
Rodriguez is under no illusions of the size of the task on his hands to dethrone the former pound-for-pound king Volkanovski.
But he's confident his wild and unorthodox style will be the undoing 'The Great' and will usher in a new era in the 145lb division.
He said: "I think Alex is strong, I think he's quick and explosive and he has durability during fights.
"But I just think that sometimes we do mistakes by thinking that because we've done something incredible that nobody else can do it.
"And that's one of the mistakes he's doing with me. I just think he knows I'm good, but I just think he says that to be nice.
"I don't think he truly believes what he's saying is 100 per cent true. And he'll know that when he comes to this fight to face me."
He added: "I don't think he's ever faced somebody like me. I'm able to change styles for each opponent I have. I never have the same style.
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"Watch my fights [and you'll see] that I'm able to change not only from left to right but also change rhythms and change styles of fighting.
"I just think it's going to be really complicated for him to beat me."