The UFC returned to Mexico this past weekend, to be headlined by a much-anticipated match-up between Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens at Lightweight. It’s fair to say that ultimately it wasn’t the fighting that mate the headlines. 15 seconds into the first round an accidental eye poke from Rodriguez to Stephens resulted in a doctor stoppage. In the melee that followed the no-contest being called, Stephens was targeting by the crowd as he headed off for medical treatment, the on-air broadcast team had drinks and coins hurled at them and UFC officials were also caught up in the unfortunate scenes. There appears to be real bad blood between these two fighters now – and with the fight now being scheduled for the Boston card in October it will be interesting to see what happens next.
The co-main event featured an interesting battle between former straw-weight champion Carla Esparza and the rapidly rising Alexa Grasso. In a close-run fight, it was Esparza who came out victorious with a majority decision win. Esparza has made no secret of her wish to challenge for the title once again and this victory brings her one step closer to that goal.
Rest of Fight Card – Results
Brandon Moreno Vs Askar Askarov Flyweight
Split draw (28-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Irene Aldana Vs Vanessa Melo Bantamweight
Aldana def. Melo by unanimous decision (30-26 x3)
Martin Bravo Vs Steven Peterson Featherweight
Peterson def. Bravo by KO (spinning back fist) at 1:31 of Round 2
Jose Quinonez Vs Carlos Huachin Bantamweight
Quinonez def. Huachin by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Marco Polo Reyes Vs Kyle Nelson Featherweight
Nelson def. Reyes by TKO (elbow and punches) at 1:36 of Round 1
Ariane Carnelossi Vs Angela Hill Strawweight
Hill def. Carnelossi by TKO (cut) at 1:56 of Round 3
Sergio Pettis Vs Alex Perez Flyweight
Pettis def. Nam by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Vinicius Moreira Vs Paul Craig Light Heavyweight
Craig def. Moreira by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:19 of Round 1
Sijara Eubanks Vs Bethe Correia Bantamweight
Correia def. Eubanks by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Claudio Puelles Vs Marco Mariano Lightweight
Puelles def. Mariano by unanimous decision (30-25 x3)
