Yair Rodriguez holds historic last-second faceplant knockout win over The Korean Zombie and no
Yair Rodriguez was once the hottest prospect in MMA and now, after years of grinding, he is just one fight away from a shot at the UFC featherweight title.
The 29-year-old suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, who he simply wasn’t ready to fight in 2017.
Rodriguez proved he has the heart and skills to be a genuine title contender in his very next fight against another UFC veteran – Chan Sung Jung.
‘El Pantera’ went to war with ‘The Korean Zombie’ in a fight of the year candidate that had one of the craziest fight conclusions in UFC history.
Knowing he was down on the cards with just seconds left of the fifth and final round, Rodriguez challenged his opponent to stand and bang with him for the remaining moments.
Jung, being the savage he is, charged forward, and ran right into a reverse elbow from his opponent that left him face down on the canvas with just one second left on the fight clock - in what is the latest KO in UFC history.
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Rodriguez failed to immediately capitalise on the win, as a no-contest with Jeremy Stephens, injury issues and a six-month USADA ban made him one of the most frustratingly inactive fighters on the UFC roster.
Last time out, in November, the Mexican fighter gave former champion Max Holloway all he could handle over five rounds and despite falling short on the judges' scorecards, he came out with the fight with a lot of credit.
Rodriguez is booked to face fellow contender Brian Ortega this weekend at UFC on ABC 3 at the UBS Arena in New York.
A win for ‘T-City’ is unlikely to be enough to earn him another title shot so soon after his lopsided decision defeat to Volkanovski at UFC 266 last September.
However, Rodriguez would represent a fresh challenge for the champion and has been told he will fight for the title next if he beats Ortega this Saturday.
“Yes, that has been said to me. Yeah, that’s what we’re looking for," he said on The MMA Hour.
“First things first, I’m going to win this fight and then give the champ some time to heal and yeah, go for it. For now, let’s take it step by step, first things first, July 16, Brian Ortega, that’s for now."
‘The Great’ is coming off a career-best performance over his toughest and most credentialed opponent – Holloway.
Volkanovski scored a unanimous 50-45 decision from all three judges meaning he didn’t drop a round as he proved he’s one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA.
Rodriguez was impressed and inspired by Volkanovski’s performance at UFC 276 earlier this month.
“He looked amazing. It was eye-opening for me, and I better get ready for that if I want to be the champion. If I want to be champion, I’m going to have to put in some work because he’s tough. He’s really tough,” he said.
The UFC on ABC 3 main event is a high-stakes match-up for the 145lb division. While Rodriguez can secure himself a title shot, the champion may well move up to lightweight if the Ultimate Fighter: Latin America winner is not victorious against Ortega.
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