The UFC has long identified the Mexican American market as one it would love to lift from boxing, but that will take Mexican and Mexican-American stars. Extraordinary Mexican boxers include Ricardo Lopez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, Juan Manuel Marquez, and that’s just fighters whose names end in e-z.

So the UFC is intent on finding Mexican stars.

On Saturday night Mexican UFC featherweight Yair Rodriguez gets the opportunity to prove he is the next big thing. Yair is ranked #7 in the division and Saturday he faces #2 contender Frankie Edgar. With a win he gets a shot at the winner of champion Jose Aldo vs. Interim Champion Max Holloway. With a loss, he still the #7 contender.

That math is not lost on Edgar, who said Rodriguez is looking to build his name on Edgar’s rep. However, in a recent interview with TMZ, Yair took exception to that.

“I think he’s being kind of disrespectful,” said Rodriguez. “Because he says that I’m in a win-win situation. He says, ‘Alright if he wins he’s going to build his name up with my name.’

“I was thinking, ‘Who the f*** does this guy think he is?’ I don’t care. I’m not looking for his fame. I want my own s***. I want my own stuff.”

“I have no friends. I don’t go out to party. I don’t do s***. The only thing that I do is just training, fighting. That’s it. That’s [what] my life all about.

“I don’t have a girlfriend. I don’t have nothing. Nothing to focus on but fighting.

Yair Rodriguez fights Frankie Edgar on the main card of UFC 211 on Saturday night.