UFC Boston: Yair Rodriguez beats Jeremy Stephens as pair put bad blood to bed
- ‘El Pantera’ and ‘Lil Heathen’ embrace at end of thrilling fight
- All three judges score the bout 29-28 for Rodriguez
Yair Rodriguez took a unanimous decision in his grudge rematch with Jeremy Stephens at UFC Boston on Friday night.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for “El Pantera” who moves to 8-1 in the UFC.
The two men embraced after the final bell, putting their bad blood to bed after an accidental opening-round eye-poke by Rodriguez ended their first fight prematurely in a matter of seconds last month.
“I feel great, I have to keep working on my wrestling and my takedown defence,” Rodriguez said in his post-fight interview in the Octagon. “An amazing performance by Jeremy Stephens, thank you brother.”
Rodriguez edged the first round and then hurt Stephens with a body kick and swept him to the ground and he looked close to finishing the fight in the second round.