The lone fighter to miss weight for Saturday’s UFC Mexico City, flyweight Ronaldo Rodriguez was still a heavy favorite to get past opponent Kevin Borjas.
The fight kicked off the night’s slightly altered main card, which had suffered a hit when illness forced Joe Pyfer to withdraw from a fight with Kelvin Gastelum.
With massive crowd support on his side, Rodriguez started pressing the action throwing a wheel kick as Borjas retreated. Rodriguez looked extremely explosive early landing a kick to the body before Borjas landed a flush right hand that send Rodriguez tumbling backward. A successful backflip by Rodriguez from the floor landed him back on his feet. Borjas started to open up with his boxing after his big right hand and kept finding a home for the punch over the top. With a minute third left in the first round, Borjas landed a straight right that scored him another knockdown. Rodriguez attempted a takedown against the cage but almost ate a flying knee on the entry. Securing a takedown against the fence was not enough to win Rodriguez the round, after getting dropped twice.
To start the second Rodriguez threw a head kick that missed, as Borjas circled away. Rodriguez attempted a takedown but was unsuccessful, eating a right hand moments after. The chin of Rodriguez was on full display during this one as Borjas repeatedly hurt the Mexican prospect with his slick boxing. It seemed as Rodriguez path to victory was taking the fight down, but he was unable to get his opponent to the floor through the first four minutes of the round. Some creative kicking techniques from Rodriguez threatened Borjas, but didn’t land significantly. Through ten minutes Borjas was landing the more damaging blows and successfully defended against four of Rodriguez five takedowns.
Ronalado pressed the action to start the third and landed a left hook. Knowing he needed a finish, Rodriguez marched forward but was repeatedly getting caught by the straight punches of Borjas. this was the most competitive round of the contest, with both fighters having landed 21 significant strikes through three and a half minutes. With a minute left Borjas landed another straight right that snapped back the head of his opponent. Borjas pointed to the ground, signaling for the two to stand and trade. Both fighters slugged it out until the final bell, in a fight that seemed to be in favor of Borjas. After three rounds the judges scored the contest a unanimous decision victory for Kevin Borjas.
This was one of the biggest wins of Borjas career, earning a victory in enemy territory against a prospect with a significant amount of hype. Borjas showed respect to the Mexico City crowd and his opponent Ronaldo Rodriguez in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. With the upset snapping a two fight losing streak, Borjas got a much needed win in his UFC career.
Official Result: Kevin Borjas def. Ronaldo Rodriguez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
