9:03 pm | September 21, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
The UFC’s return to Mexico ended in a complete mess.
The main event of UFC Mexico City lasted just 15 seconds Saturday night after Yair Rodriguez accidentally poked Jeremy Stephens in the eye. When Stephens was unable to open his left eye after five minutes of recovery, the ringside physician advised that referee Herb Dean call the fight off. The bout was ruled a no contest.
When Dean waved the bout off, the fans in attendance at Mexico City Arena were furious, booing lustily and throwing garbage into the Octagon. Stephens had to be escorted from the cage area by security. Rodriguez was also angry when the bout’s result was announced, getting into a scuffle with security.
Before calming down, Rodriguez brushed off former UFC champion Michael Bisping, who was working as an analyst on the card and trying to interview him.
“Don’t touch me,” Rodriguez told Bisping. Rodriguez cooled off and did the interview, but on the broadcast afterward, Bisping said: “I thought he was gonna swing on me. He was so pissed.”
Nearly an hour after the fight was over, Stephens’ coach, Eric Del Fierro, told ESPN’s Heidi Androl that Stephens still was not unable to open his eye and that he would likely be sent to an emergency ophthalmologist.
In one of the first exchanges of the bout, Rodriguez went for a kick and then swiped with his left hand to get distance. Rodriguez’s hand was open, and his finger went into Stephens’ left eye. Dean paused the action to look at Stephens’ eye, and Stephens couldn’t open it. Dean tried to pry Stephens’ eye open himself, and it would not open.
When the doctor entered the cage, Dean told him that Stephens wasn’t able to open his eye because it was spasming. Dean said that Stephens had time to recover and that the eye would eventually relax.
After a five-minute grace period, the doctor came back into the cage, and Stephens still could not open his eye. The fight quickly was called off.
Stephens spent $30,000 to hold a six-week training camp in Mexico to prepare for the altitude in Mexico City, which is 7,382 feet above sea level. Rodriguez also trained for a month at elevation in Mexico.
“I apologize a great deal,” Rodriguez said through an interpreter. “We both trained very hard for this fight. Everyone spent a lot of money coming down here to train in order to compete.”
Rodriguez (11-2, 1 NC) was coming off a historic knockout of Chan Sung Jung last November at UFC Denver. Rodriguez knocked Jung out with just 1 second remaining in a five-round fight, the first time that has happened in UFC history. Rodriguez, a 26-year-old Mexico native, has just one loss in five years in the UFC, to Frankie Edgar.
Stephens (28-16, 1 NC) had lost two straight coming into Saturday. The 33-year-old San Diego resident is ranked No. 9 among MMA featherweights by ESPN. Stephens has been a perennial contender in the division.
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