UFC 284: Yair Rodriguez wins interim featherweight title with slick submission of Josh Emmett

On March 10, 2012, in his third professional fight, Yair Rodriguez won by a triangle choke, submitting Carlos Ricardo in Monterrey, Mexico.

On Saturday in Perth, Australia, as he was warming up for an interim featherweight title bout against Josh Emmett in the co-main event of UFC 284, he thought of that triangle choke.

And a few minutes later, he went out and, in the performance of his lifetime, pulled off that exact submission to tap out Emmett and become the interim featherweight champion.

“I did that in one of my fights a long time ago, and I learned the adjustment the same day of the fight,” Rodriguez said after getting the submission at 4:19 of the second. “And I remembered that today.”

The way Rodriguez fought, though, it was only a matter of time before he got Emmett. He was brilliant, better than he’s ever been, and was beating a highly respected opponent all over the cage.

He threw all sorts of kicks, hurting Emmett twice with thudding shots to the body. He threw punches and elbows and knees, and even when he was down, he worked from a closed guard and continued his offensive attack.

It was one of those performances in which very good fighters raise their games when the stakes are highest and ascend to the next level.

Even when Emmett cracked him with a blistering right counter in the first, Rodriguez remained calm and in control. He fought off his back for the last 50 seconds of the first, and, if nothing else, he sent a message to Emmett that there would be no easy moments in the bout.

Right before the finish, he caught Emmett with a leaping knee to the side of his face. Both went down, with Emmett on top. But showing the poise of a veteran, Rodriguez worked calmly and did some damage before throwing up the triangle.

It was only his fourth submission and his first in the UFC.

And it came at the best possible time.