Yair Rodriguez is looking to make a change, but it has to be the right one. Rodriguez was last seen in action back in May. He was finished by Frankie Edgar at UFC 211. Many experts and fans felt it was a learning experience for “El Pantera,” who was finished for the second time in […]
Yair Rodriguez is looking to make a change, but it has to be the right one. Rodriguez was last seen in action back in May. He was finished by Frankie Edgar at UFC 211. Many experts and fans felt it was a learning experience for “El Pantera,” who was finished for the second time in […]
Yair Rodriguez is taking his first professional mixed martial arts (MMA) loss in stride. Rodriguez last competed against Frankie Edgar back in May. It was a one-sided thrashing in favor of “The Answer.” Rodriguez couldn’t make it to the third round as his eye swelled up bad enough to warrant a doctor’s stoppage. Having suffered […]
Yair Rodriguez is taking his first professional mixed martial arts (MMA) loss in stride. Rodriguez last competed against Frankie Edgar back in May. It was a one-sided thrashing in favor of “The Answer.” Rodriguez couldn’t make it to the third round as his eye swelled up bad enough to warrant a doctor’s stoppage. Having suffered […]
No one can dispute that 2017 has been a down year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship thus far. There have been a few bright spots like UFC 211 and the highly anticipated battle between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway at UFC 212, but they largely been overshadowed by mediocre Fight Night cards, some with head […]
No one can dispute that 2017 has been a down year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship thus far.
There have been a few bright spots like UFC 211 and the highly anticipated battle between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway at UFC 212, but they largely been overshadowed by mediocre Fight Night cards, some with head scratching main events.
Things are finally looking up with the McGregor vs. Mayweather super-fight getting finalized. Next month’s UFC 213 also looks outstanding, with two title fights and a bevy of other exciting scraps.
But before the good times start rolling again, there will be another entry to the crappy event list added this weekend. With that in mind, let’s look back at the eight worst bookings of 2017 so far.
1. UFC Fight Night 103: Penn vs. Rodriguez
No list of cringe-worthy bookings would be complete without the epic mismatch between dynamic rising featherweight star Yair Rodriguez and all-time great BJ Penn. The two were set to do battle at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 15, but it wasn’t much of a fight.
Penn was making his return to fighting after a two-and-a-half-year retirement, taking his second-ever fight at featherweight. Various opponent switches, injuries, and suspensions delayed his return by nearly a year, and left him with “Pantera” as his comeback foe. Rodriguez, meanwhile, was undefeated in the UFC and regarded as one of the most promising prospects in the 145-pound division.
Penn looked better initially than he had in his last fight, an embarrassing and perplexing third loss to Frankie Edgar. But the positives wouldn’t last long. The high-flying “Pantera” hurt Penn with a kick to the body in the first round that seemed to sap the Hawaiian’s resolve. Free to unleash the full breadth of his arsenal, Rodriguez teed off, nearly finishing Penn at the end of the frame.
He would mop up Penn early in the second. Another kick dropped “The Prodigy”, and Rodriguez finished him off with ground and pound. The victory gave the exciting young Mexican the most high-profile scalp of his career but did little to test him. It also served as a humiliating setback for Penn. It was a predictable outcome that nevertheless did little to elevate either fighter, more sad than anything else.
2. UFC 208: Holm vs. De Randamie
The premiere MMA organization’s debut in Brooklyn was supposed to be a watershed moment for New York MMA and the UFC. Instead, it was a roundly mocked debacle.
With Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey on the sidelines for 2017, the UFC needed (and still needs) all of the star power it can acquire or manufacture. One star that had shown promise as a draw, particularly in her native Brazil, was Cris “Cyborg” Justino. The former Strikeforce and Invicta FC featherweight champion had two catchweight bouts in the UFC, winning each by first-round knockout, and the company planned to launch its own women’s 145-pound division to showcase her talents.
But negotiations with the cagey “Cyborg” broke down, with the Brazilian insisting that she would not be ready to fight on the Brooklyn card. Frustrated with Justino, and needing a headliner for the pay-per-view (PPV) UFC 208, the UFC brass decided to move forward with their featherweight plans without her.
Enter former bantamweight champion Holly Holm and fellow kickboxing champ Germaine de Randamie. The UFC hoped to cash in on the notoriety Holm still possessed following her earth-shattering knockout of Rousey, despite the fact that she had lost two straight since. De Randamie had little star power of her own. She simply had the good fortune of being a big bantamweight coming off a win with a striking-oriented style that would (in theory) provide a favorable matchup for Holm.
Fans and pundits jeered the fight and the card in general. A UFC women’s featherweight championship fight that did not involve “Cyborg” was laughable; the winner would never be regarded as the best 145er with Justino still lurking.
The fight and its aftermath only served to intensify the mockery. De Randamie won a controversial decision marred by multiple fouls for striking Holm after the bell, fouls that were not punished by the referee. She has since ducked and then flat out refused to accept “Cyborg” has her first challenger, risking having the belt stripped.
Yair Rodriguez has broken his silence over his one-sided loss to Frankie Edgar. Rodriguez competed against “The Answer” inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on the main card of UFC 211. Edgar battered “El Pantera” until his left eye ballooned to the point where the fight was stopped before the third round began. […]
Yair Rodriguez has broken his silence over his one-sided loss to Frankie Edgar. Rodriguez competed against “The Answer” inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on the main card of UFC 211. Edgar battered “El Pantera” until his left eye ballooned to the point where the fight was stopped before the third round began. […]
There are levels to this game.
That was Frankie Edgar’s message on Saturday at UFC 211 after the former lightweight champion and longtime men’s featherweight contender dispatched rising prospect Yair Rodriguez via an ugly second-round doctor stoppage.
…
There are levels to this game.
That was Frankie Edgar‘s message on Saturday at UFC 211 after the former lightweight champion and longtime men’s featherweight contender dispatched rising prospect Yair Rodriguez via an ugly second-round doctor stoppage.
In one fell swoop, Edgar proved he still has life as a championship contender. And while Rodriguez’s time might be coming, the young pup isn’t quite ready to run with the proverbial big dogs at 145 pounds.
“Before the fight, I said no matter what happens, Yair is going to be a superstar,” Edgar told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the cage when the fight was over. “Just not yet, you know? Sometimes you need losses like that to get to the next level.”
Do you, though? Really?
Even before this match became reality, observers were wondering what the UFC could be thinking. Rodriguez was an obvious blue-chip prospect, a potential linchpin in the company’s plan to expand its brand into the Mexican fight market. Wasn’t sending him out there against a guy the caliber of Edgar sort of a suicide mission at this stage?
Answer: Yes, and now that we’ve all seen the lopsidedness of their fight, we have even more questions than before.
Why would the UFC take one of its brightest rising stars and feed him through a Frankie Edgar-branded meat grinder? What exactly did that accomplish? Didn’t it just squander all of Rodriguez’s momentum for essentially no reason?
Joining me to discuss these and other vexing questions about this strategy (or, perhaps, lack thereof) is Bleacher Report featured columnist Steven Rondina.
Steven Rondina: This is why we can’t have nice things. The UFC just won’t let it happen.
Twenty-four-year-old super prospect Rodriguez was supposed to be the MMA equivalent of a turnkey product. There wasn’t a single aspect of his existence that was hard to sell to fans and media partners.
Young? Check. Athletic? Check. Good-looking dude? Check. Exciting in-cage style? Check. First-of-his-kind talent from a market the UFC is looking to break into? Check. Undefeated? Check.
I’m not a fight promoter, but I feel like building up Rodriguez should be the easiest part of Dana White‘s day. The UFC brass, however, made it look like freaking calculus when they pitted Rodriguez against Edgar, who put such a thorough beating on him that it drew a rare doctor stoppage after the second round.
Even after sleeping on it, this contest feels dumb to the point I’m wondering what the heck the UFC could’ve been thinking. So I ask you, Chad. Is there something here I’m not seeing? Or is this just a complete gaffe by the UFC?
Chad Dundas: Mostly, I feel as confused about this booking as you do, Steven.
Even when the fight company announced the matchup back in March, it seemed nonsensical. Rodriguez was streaking, having won six bouts in a row in the Octagon, but he hadn’t fought anyone close to Edgar’s caliber. On top of that, one of the things we knew about the youngster was that his unorthodox offense required space to get going.
The rare instances when Rodriguez had struggled—like against Alex Caceres in August 2016—came against fighters who limited his arsenal of spinning kicks by dictating the range. Edgar is a master in that aspect of the fight game, possessing a high-pressure, highly mobile boxing attack with lightning-quick takedowns and smothering top control.
On paper, this looked like a nightmare pairing of styles for Rodriguez.
In practice? Same.
So what was the UFC thinking? Maybe it was gambling that it could press fast-forward on El Pantera’s hype and rocket him straight to the top with a win over Edgar. Or maybe Edgar’s somewhat tepid recent performance against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 205 convinced UFC brass he’d lost a step. Maybe there weren’t any better available matchups for Yair.
Perhaps, as noted on the UFC 211 broadcast, it was a simple matter of Rodriguez asking to fight Edgar and having his wish granted. I dunno.
In any case, all those notions were wrong. Now we’re left to sift through the aftermath.
Steven, considering Rodriguez’s relative youth and inexperience, how much do you think this loss ends up hurting his stock as a super prospect? Might there be a silver lining buried in all this murk?
Rondina: I’ll go on record as saying there is absolutely, positively no silver lining to this fight on any level. As I stated in my recap of the fight, nobody won here. There were only varying levels of loser.
Don’t get me wrong, Rodriguez’s career isn’t over. At 24, he’s a youngster in a deceptively old division. And while he left the cage with his face badly bruised and swollen, he didn’t seem to suffer any catastrophic injury or suffer a massive concussion that will steal competitive years from him.
But did Edgar get anything out of this victory? Nope. Rodriguez’s name doesn’t add anything to his resume or legacy, and he is still locked in title-shot purgatory, waiting for somebody other than Jose Aldo (who has defeated him twice) to hold the featherweight belt.
Were the fans treated to something special at UFC 211? Nope. This wasn’t an especially exciting contest, and it wasn’t a technical marvel that sent hardcore fans home happy.
Did the UFC set anything up down the road with this matchup? Nope. While losing to a Cub Swanson or Chan Sung Jung could have laid the framework for a potential championship bout, this didn’t add intrigue or promotional value to any hypothetical contest that could come together in its aftermath.
Do you agree on all that? Is there some redeeming value I’m not privy to? Any lessons you took away from this?
Dundas: I don’t think it’s quite as meaningless for Edgar as all that.
After a loss to Aldo at UFC 200 and then the Stephens fight, in which he didn’t quite live up to his previous standard, Edgar needed this win to prove he’s still an elite fighter wherever he decides to ply his trade. If nothing else, blowing the doors off Rodriguez reminded us all that The Answer only loses to championship-level opposition (and Gray Maynard).
He’s in great shape moving forward, either to challenge the winner of the featherweight title unification bout between Aldo and Max Holloway at UFC 212 or to make his services available in some other high-profile spot.
With rumors going around that Cody Garbrandt might be out of his men’s bantamweight title defense against TJ Dillashaw at UFC 213, Edgar could even toss his hat in the ring there. If I were him—and assuming I could make the weight—I’d call UFC brass and offer to drop to 135 pounds and take on Dillashaw in a championship eliminator.
Wouldn’t that be something?
As for Rodriguez? Who knows, man? He’s still so young he could rehabilitate himself. The question will be whether this loss spurs him to take his preparation and skill set to the next level.
Rodriguez’s offense is dynamic, but against top-level opposition he needs a Plan B or better takedown defense or something.
I doubt this defeat changes his long-term fortunes that much, but it is certainly a significant setback. As you noted, the most disappointing thing is it came in a fight the UFC didn’t have to make. Matchmakers easily could’ve held Rodriguez out until a more competitive matchup was available.
There’s definitely blame to be placed for hurrying him into this bout, and I’m afraid it must either fall on the UFC or on Rodriguez and his handlers. A prospect of his potential but relative inexperience just didn’t belong in there with Edgar at this stage of his career.
Touted as one of the hottest prospects in the sport heading into his bout against No. 2-ranked Frankie Edgar at last night’s (Sat., May 13, 2017) UFC 211 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, 24-year-old Yair Rodriguez had a chance to burst through into true title contention if he could top “The Answer.” However,
Touted as one of the hottest prospects in the sport heading into his bout against No. 2-ranked Frankie Edgar at last night’s (Sat., May 13, 2017) UFC 211 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, 24-year-old Yair Rodriguez had a chance to burst through into true title contention if he could top “The Answer.”
However, the flashy striking sensation was instead left with a bevy of questions about his complete game, as Edgar expectedly used his wrestling to ground Rodriguez for two rounds, battering him with a relentless onslaught of ground and pound to earn a doctor stoppage due to the grotesquely swollen left eye of “El Pantera.” Check out the highlights of the fight right here:
After the bout, Rodriguez posted a response on his official Instagram account with a close-up photo of the mangled eye:
A post shared by Yair Rodriguez Portillo (@panteraufc) on
Here’s the translation of his reaction:
It hurts me because I have surrendered to the sport, I have changed my habits and my life, I always train to the maximum and when I reach the limit always pushed me but sometimes it is not enough to do all that and you have to do more and look in new places. I know that my performance was not at all the best and I faced who I knew would be one of the most difficult tests of my life! I mentioned it earlier and I will say it again. A defeat brought me to this point and this defeat will not leave me lying here. I came to this company and this world to face the best of the best to become the best of the best. For the time being I apologize for not being able to complete this goal that I said I would fulfill. I do not say come back stronger because I have not left. Here I stand firm and with the look to the sky! May God be the judge of my destiny and thank you all for your unconditional love and love! Watch the flags of Mexico ???????? and listen to their voices go fondly and energy towards me are priceless! And to stop me they would have to kill me first, I will not give up. #wedontstop
While it’s a definite setback for the touted future star, Rodriguez still can be the future of the UFC featherweight division if he’s able to shore up his wrestling game in a 145-pound division featuring some truly elite grinders like Edgar, Ricardo Lamas, and Chad Mendes (when he returns from suspension).
His game obviously relies on having a ton of space to unleash his awe-inspiring kicks, and we’ve seen that doesn’t always work when those kinds of fighters are pressured, most notably in the case of former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.
So Rodriguez most likely will not be able to summit the mountain top of the 145-pound elite until he makes some significant improvements to his mat game, which he does have the time to do.
For now, however, “El Pantera” just doesn’t have the answer for the still-elite Edgar.
There are levels to this game.