Yair Rodriguez has officially stopped trying to squeeze his frame down to 145 lbs. His teammate and former UFC welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, broke the news on X, saying that ‘El Pantera’ is turning his focus to the lightweight division.

“Yair is moving up,” Muhammad wrote on X.

This puts an end to months of speculation regarding where the dynamic striker would land upon his return. The Mexican standout has been out since April 2025, when he sustained a severe injury to his left hand during a hard-fought victory against Patricio Freire at UFC 314. As a result, Yair Rodriguez has been out of action for about 14 months, despite the surgery in October being successful.

He first postponed the necessary surgery because he was confident he would secure a featherweight title rematch against Alexander Volkanovski—the man who stopped him via third-round TKO at UFC 290 in 2023. Fans were hoping for a rematch to headline a UFC Noche card with the title at stake, but plans fell apart when ‘The Great’ made it clear that he wouldn’t be able to compete on that date.

While the move up to 155 pounds kills any immediate hopes for an Alexander Volkanovski sequel, it also reopens the door to a dream match that fans have been begging to see. A grudge match between Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez was once the sport’s most talked-about bout.

Their feud erupted following a chaotic argument at the UFC 314 press conference, which allegedly started from a backstage confrontation between their respective camps at a regional Mexican MMA event. Despite a year of buildup, the two never fought at featherweight.

The stars are finally aligned now. Following a second-round knockout victory over Steve Garcia on the historic UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, Lopes confirmed that he will also make the move up to the lightweight division.

Lopes also recently revealed that it was the UFC that wasn’t bringing up Yair Rodriguez’s name during recent matchmaking meetings, mostly due to his prolonged inactivity. However, the former title challenger stated that if the promotion wants to put them in a high-profile headliner, he is down to sign the contract.

“In the talk that I had with the UFC, he wasn’t even mentioned,” Lopes told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “If we stop and analyze things, since the last time we both fought (on the same card), I’ve fought three times, and he hasn’t fought. I don’t know what the reason is, if they’re personal or what; that’s his matter, but when I spoke to the UFC, they didn’t mention Yair to me.

“Let’s see what happens. If the UFC changes their mind and they go, ‘You know what, we want you main event vs. Yair at Noche UFC,’ I have no problem with it. You already know me. I just want to fight.”

With both guys officially headed to 155 lbs, the feud may finally be settled inside the Octagon. But one big question that remains is why the sudden shift for ‘El Pantera.’

The Meta rankings shift might’ve played a big role in Yair Rodriguez’s lightweight move

While the idea of a big-money fight against Diego Lopes is undeniably appealing, an algorithmic shift behind the scenes likely pushed Yair Rodriguez out the door. Despite his 14-month hiatus from the cage, the 33-year-old maintained his number five status in the traditional UFC media rankings.

However, the promotion’s new “Meta rankings” completely erased him, knocking the elite striker out of the top fifteen in the featherweight division.

The new AI system, created by Facebook’s parent company as part of a significant UFC sponsorship deal, rolled out on the promotion’s official website with a feature allowing fans to toggle between the computer model and the legacy media panel. And well, the changes surely had a big impact on numerous established rosters.

Robert Whittaker, Derrick Lewis, and Raul Rosas Jr. found themselves excluded from the top 15 rankings despite remaining high in the media rankings. Meanwhile, Ryan Spann and Navajo Stirling found new numbers next to their names. And according to CBS Sports, the UFC aims to completely phase out the old media panel.

The decision isn’t causing too many tears in the business, given that the legacy panel was often heavily criticized for being a random collection of regional bloggers and media members. However, there’s a catch.

Despite early promotional claims from Dana White, Meta’s new model isn’t run by a highly intuitive AI. It is a strict Elo ranking system—a mathematical algorithm that takes wins, opponent strength, and mode of finish as parameters. The computer doesn’t factor in style points or context.

But the big question now is, will it decide who gets priority now? Nobody knows that for sure. It remains to be seen whether these automated numbers will genuinely dictate title opportunities, especially given Dana White’s history of ignoring rankings when making important fights.

But it seems like that for Yair Rodriguez, seeing his name get erased from the official top 15 was a clear indication that it was time to leave the featherweight division in the rearview mirror.