UFC 211 results: Frankie Edgar smashes Yair Rodriguez's eye in for TKO victory
The former champ showed why he's still dangerous in the 145-pound division on Saturday
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1 min read
The UFC has never been shy about throwing its top prospects into the deep end of the pool to find out what they are made of. It happened again on Saturday, only this time, Yair Rodriguez ran into a shark.
The 24-year-old featherweight from Mexico never had a chance to showcase his flashy and dangerous striking style as former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar took him down and simply ground him out with a pair of absolutely dominant rounds.
Rodriguez (10-2), who suffered his first defeat inside the Octagon, was ruled unfit to continue before the start of Round 3 by the cageside doctor thanks to a grotesquely swollen left eye which blinded his vision.
"There is levels to this game," Edgar said. "Before the fight, I said no matter what happens that Yair is going to be a superstar. Just not yet. Sometimes you need losses like that to get to the next level and he is going to be alright."
Edgar (22-5-1), whose only defeats since moving down to featherweight in 2013 have come in title fights to champion Jose Aldo, looked many years younger on Saturday than his age of 35. The hard-nosed wrestler took Rodriguez down in the opening round and spent three minutes pounding his face with punches, forearms and elbows.
Rodriguez was lucky to finish the opening round and was left bloody and badly bruised. He found no such relief in the second frame as Edgar took him down earlier this time and continued to maul at a relentless pace.
After the fight, Edgar talked about the June 3 featherweight title bout at UFC 212 between Aldo and interim champion Max Holloway.
"It's a great matchup, I want the winner," Edgar said. "I don't know. You want to hook me and Aldo up for the third time? If that's what they want. Unless, it's let's go Holloway."
