Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens delivered what was expected several weeks ago in the co-main event of UFC Boston: an absolutely wild fight.
Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens were supposed to headline UFC Mexico City four weeks ago but that fight ended in 15 seconds due to a Rodriguez eye-poke. They’ll have to settle for the UFC Boston co-main event and two fewer rounds to battle.
Yair Rodriguez flew threw the air and landed a side kick to the face of Stephens right at the start of the fight. Rodriguez landed a big left hand in an exchange, then clinched up with Stephens. Neither man scored a takedown and went back to distance striking. Rodriguez began ripping body kicks without a response from Stephens. Stephens was trying to land a haymaker, but was coming up empty. Rodriguez’s body kicks were looking great as he began to mix it up. A switch head kick landed for Rodriguez, then a right for Stephens followed by a left that knocked Stephens down. Stephens bounced back up but took a lot of damage to the body in the round.
Right out of the gate!#UFCBoston pic.twitter.com/LiVEoYwUAq
— UFC (@ufc) October 19, 2019
The body kicks kept coming in the second round and one caused Stephens to crumble. Somehow, Stephens survived the onslaught for over two minutes and turned it around with a takedown. As Yair was standing up, Stephens laid into some punishing shots that caused Rodriguez to cover up along the fence. Rodriguez circled out and reset, landing another body kick before the end of the round.
The sound of that strike! How did Stephens survive!?#UFCBoston pic.twitter.com/MRcXWZfWOz
— UFC (@ufc) October 19, 2019
Stephens was caught with a low kick in the beginning of the third that stopped the action. When they resumed, Stephens landed a few bombs then drove through for a takedown. Yair bounced back up, but was taken down soon after. Stephens transitioned to half guard and postured up to land bombs. There just wasn’t enough time for Stephens to catch up. If only we had two more rounds.
Yair Rodriguez def. Jeremy Stephens by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
