'Grown man' Isaac Dulgarian: UFC Fight Night 239 foe Christian Rodriguez has 'been fighting little kids'

LAS VEGAS – Isaac Dulgarian plans to show Christian Rodriguez that featherweight is a different world at UFC Fight Night 239.

Rodriguez (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who has been attempting to fight at bantamweight during his UFC tenure thus far with multiple failures making weight, will come up to 145 pounds for Saturday’s bout with Dulgarian (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at the UFC Apex (ESPN+).

Dulgarian thinks it’s going to be a shock in physicality for Rodriguez, and that’s going to be a key deciding factor in their bout.

“I’ve seen Christian fight plenty of times before on previous cards – I was impressed with him, he’s a tough kid, but I just think I’m better all around and it’s my time,” Dulgarian told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “The difference is I’m a grown man and he’s been fighting little kids, basically, at 135. If I can get ahold of a ’35-pounder, it’s a wrap. So he’s going to have to put on a lot of size in a few months, and I just don’t see that happening. I think I’m going to have a power advantage, strength advantage and I think we’ll get to see that.”

Dulgarian brings an undefeated record with a 100 percent first-round finishing rate into the matchup, including a TKO finish of Francis Marshall in his octagon debut at UFC on ESPN 51 in August. He is confident he can keep that streak in tact but will find out when he steps into the cage with Rodriguez this weekend.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 239.