Yair Rodriguez’s long-awaited return to the Octagon just got hit with a nasty speed bump. ‘El Pantera’ was all set to face Jean Silva in the UFC Noche main event on September 12 in Glendale, Arizona, as his first bout in 2026. Instead, an injury forced Rodriguez out of the fight, putting his comeback on ice once again.

And while the injury was undisclosed when the pullout was announced, Yair Rodriguez has now taken to his social media to break his silence on the situation, apologizing to his fans for making them wait a bit longer to see the former interim featherweight champion return back to action.

“I got injured,” Rodriguez wrote on X. “I tried to continue with my preparation, but ultimately it wouldn’t have been responsible to compete under these conditions. I wanted this fight, and I know many of you did too.

“Now my job is to fully recover and come back prepared to compete at the level you expect from me and that I expect from myself. Thank you to everyone who continues to support me. See you soon.”

The withdrawal extends what has already been a frustrating period of inactivity for the UFC featherweight. The 33-year-old has not fought since defeating former Bellator MMA champion Patricio Pitbull in April 2025, and he will be out of action for the rest of 2026.

Rodriguez was hoping to use Jean Silva as a springboard back into the featherweight title picture. Especially since he had suffered consecutive losses to Brian Ortega and Alexander Volkanovski before getting back into the win column against Pitbull.

Yair Rodriguez’s fight with ‘Lord’ would also have been his first appearance at Noche UFC, an event celebrating Mexican independence. Instead, the UFC acted fast to find a replacement in Jose Delgado, who will now step in to face Silva.

This means Silva will now headline Noche UFC for the second straight year at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The No. 6-ranked featherweight recovered from his knockout loss to Diego Lopes last September by defeating Arnold Allen at UFC 324 in January, so a possible win over Yair Rodriguez may have given the 29-year-old a chance to secure his first title shot. But now that’s not a given against Delgado.

It is also worth noting that unfortunately for Rodriguez, this is not the first time an injury has derailed an important matchup.

Yair Rodriguez’s long history of injury setbacks and inactivity

One of the most prominent cases occurred in 2018, when Yair Rodriguez was set to fight Zabit Magomedsharipov after returning from a lengthy layoff. The bout was already highly anticipated, but an injury forced him to withdraw less than a month before the event.

The withdrawal already came after a turbulent period in Rodriguez’s UFC career. Earlier that year, Dana White said that the promotion had axed him due to a dispute over his activity and proposed matchups.

“The guy’s off a year, rejects a fight with Lamas and then doesn’t want to fight a guy below him in the rankings?” White told the LA Times at the time. “He can go somewhere else. We have no use for him.”

‘El Pantera’ disputed that account of events, stating that he had agreed to fight Ricardo Lamas before the fight fell through. He further stated that instead of openly refusing the proposed Magomedsharipov fight, he asked for a pay increase.

“I know the potential of this fight, and that’s why I was asking for more money,” Rodriguez said of his fight with Magomedsharipov. “That was the main problem about it. Not because I didn’t want to fight, not because I was scared of no one… I said no to fight him in LA for the same amount of money.”

The UFC and Rodriguez eventually resolved their differences, with the organization re-signing him and scheduling the Zabit Magomedsharipov fight. However, due to the injury withdrawal, the much-anticipated showdown was canceled.

The UFC attempted to revive the fight in 2020, but another injury derailed it. Yair Rodriguez sustained a severe high ankle sprain and bone fracture during training, putting an end to the hopes of seeing the two featherweights face off in the Octagon.

Since that second attempt at the 2020 rebooking, ‘El Pantera’ has continued to struggle with consistency. His scheduled fight with Max Holloway was also canceled on July 17, 2021, this time due to Holloway’s injury; however, the fight was finally rescheduled for November of the same year and went on to earn a Fight of the Night bonus for Rodriguez despite losing the bout.

Since that November 2021 bout, Yair Rodriguez has fought only five times. He has also gone 1-2 in his last three fights, making his latest withdrawal for UFC Noche yet another disheartening setback for a fighter who has consistently failed to maintain momentum.