Fired up Jeremy Stephens Responds to Yair Rodriguez, After “Pantera” Raises Doubts About Fight’s End

Yair Rodriguez didn’t outright accuse Jeremy Stephens of faking an eye injury or exaggerating the effects of the eye poke he took. But, the highlight reel striker did seem to question whether “Lil’ Heathen” might have been able to continue at UFC Mexico City, and that didn’t sit well with the heavy-handed fighter.

Saturday’s headliner ends in disaster

Due to the aggressive styles of both Stephens and Rodriquez, and because of each man’s striking pedigrees, Saturday’s headliner had plenty of buzz behind it heading in. The fight ended in very, very, very unfortunate circumstances, however, as officially, it was declared a no-contest at the 15-second mark. Stephens was accidentally poked in the eye just seconds in, and he was given five minutes to recover. The veteran still couldn’t open his left eye after five minutes, however, so the fight was called.

Rodriguez’s comments

Of course, Rodriquez was asked to weigh-in on what happened in the fight and how it ended. While Rodriguez didn’t come out and say he thought Stephens was faking or exaggerating, he did say the following (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“My family came here, all my friends came here, and you always have to give the benefit of the doubt to your opponent. You don’t know how he’s feeling. But he’s the only one who is going to have to live with that in his mind for the rest of his life, if it was a lie.”

“You always have to give the benefit of the doubt,” Rodriguez said. “I can’t imagine how it feels to have an eye poke. But I know how it feels to have an eye closed, and I still fought. But that’s up to me. But even with that, I told them I could see. I was ready to go in the third round because I said, ‘Yes, I could see,’ even if it was a lie. But everybody is different in this sport. The only one that has to live with that is Jeremy Stephens. I understand. I’m giving him completely the benefit of the doubt.”

Rodriguez was referring to his 2017 loss to Frankie Edgar, which was called by the doctor after the second round, since “Pantera’s” eye was completely swollen shut. ESPN’s Karyn Bryant spoke with Stephens in the hospital after the card, and evidently, he was aware of what Rodriquez had said (warning: graphic language):

If you’ve followed Stephens’ career, it’s hard to imagine that he would have used this opportunity to bail out on the fight. After all, Stephens has fought numerous killers at 145 throughout his UFC run. All that aside, here’s hoping this fight does get rebooked and soon.