https://youtu.be/BFomgcAqGCA

Streaking UFC prospect Yair Rodriguez is fresh off his January win over BJ Penn, which saw the young star pick up his 6th straight UFC win, extending his unbeaten streak in the Octagon. Following Rodriguez’ win over Penn, the UFC gave the #8 ranked featherweight quite the step up in competition as they booked ‘Pantera’ to fight UFC featherweight #1 contender Frankie Edgar in a pivotal showdown at UFC 211 on May 13th.

Ahead of the fight, you can catch a glimpse of Rodriguez working on his striking in a newly released clip above!

While the fight is a pivotal one for Yair Rodriguez, it’s also a high-stakes fight for Edgar, who believes that the UFC is painting a bit of a picture leading up to the fight. He recently spoke to MMAFighting:

“I’d be stupid not to see the picture they’re painting here a little bit. Yair’s kind of in a win-win situation I think. He beats me, that’s great for him, it’s good for the UFC to push a prospect. But if he loses, he wasn’t supposed to win, kind of situation. For me, a lot’s on the line.”

Edgar of course will be the toughest test of Rodriguez’ career. The former lightweight champion has proven time and time again that he is one of the most consistent fighters in the UFC, going 6-2 since making the drop to featherweight in 2013, with his only two losses coming at the hands of Jose Aldo. Unfortunately for Edgar, as he stated in the quote above, he is likely in a must-win situation against Rodriguez. Should Edgar, the #1 contender at featherweight behind champion Jose Aldo, and interim champion Max Holloway, lose the fight, he could see himself drop considerably down on the UFC featherweight rankings.

Who do you think wins this fight PENN Nation?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/14/2017.