Brian Ortega Upsets Yair Rodriguez After Rolling Ankle During Introductions
Ortega (left) and Rodriguez (right) face off before their co-main event bout. (via MMAFighting.com)
Last Saturday, UFC Mexico featured a rematch between two of the best Featherweights in the world, Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez. While the fighters were being introduced, Ortega was jumping in order to warm up ahead of his bout, and after he lands his leg buckles from rolling his right ankle.
This was deja vu for Ortega, who dislocated his shoulder in his last bout with Rodriguez, which led to him being knocked out in the first round.
Ortega stated that this shook his confidence in the first round, where Rodriguez battered and dropped Ortega on the feet. This seemed to be a sign of things to come as many had predicted Rodriguez to win their rematch in even more dominant fashion.
After weathering the storm in round one, Ortega recollected himself and actually looked much better on the feet in round two. He was able to take Rodriguez down and have 3:55 of ground control time, which seemed to tire Rodriguez greatly.
In the third, Ortega wasted no time in sending Rodriguez back to the mat. Ortega then sunk in an air tight arm-triangle choke that made Rodriguez tap instantly. In the post fight press conference, Ortega discussed how rolling his ankle affected his mentality right before the bout.
“When they were introducing (Yair Rodriguez), I was trying to flex my ankle like, come on, bro, work,” Ortega said. “Don’t you dare fail me right now. Like, we got five rounds — it’s not even a regular co-main event. I’d be lying if I said panic didn’t set in for a bit.”
This takes Ortega’s victory to the next level, having both overcome the adversity of his ankle as well as weathering the onslaught that Rodriguez mounted in the first round. It also shows that Ortega is far than done from contending for titles at 145, and that he still poses many problems for those in the featherweight division.
