Rodriguez lands a kick to BJ's face. Photo: UFC
around B.J. Penn to the octagon will be one to forget. The Hawaiian, former lightweight and welterweight champion of the organization. was completely dominated by the Mexican revelation Yair Rodriguez and ended up knocked out at the beginning of the second round. The fight was the main attraction of UFC Phoenix, held in the early hours of Monday (16), in the United States.
In the preliminary card of the show, Brazil had a representative. Augusto Tanquinho showed evolution in the stand-up fight and beat Frankie Saenz in a split decision from the judges.
The fight
Away from the octagon for more than two years, B.J. Penn He was excited about his return. He attacked his rival to try to put pressure on Rodriguez. But the Mexican, in the first opportunity he had to land his blows, frustrated the former champion. Yair landed a beautiful left kick that caught Penn in the head. From there, the show began. Rodriguez threw spinning kicks, high kicks and flying knees. BJ still survived until the end of the first round, but he was clearly stunned.
At the beginning of the second round came the final outcome. Rodriguez combined a kick with a hand strike and BJ went to the ground. The Mexican went up, landed several punches from above and forced the referee to declare a technical knockout. Penn still complained about the decision, claiming that he was able to defend himself. But the rival's dominance was clear.
BJ's setback marked the fourth consecutive defeat for the member of the Ultimate 'Hall of Fame' and should seal his new retirement.
“I fought a legend today, he deserves all the respect. I want to thank the B.J. Penn for accepting this fight with me,” he said. Yair Rodriguez
UFC Phoenix results:
MAIN CARD
Feather weight: Yair Rodriguez derrotou B.J. Penn by technical knockout (punches) 24s into R2
Lightweight: Joe lauzon defeated Marcin Held via split decision (27x30, 29x28, 29-28)
Welterweight: Ben Saunders defeated Court mcgee in the unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×28)
Flyweight: Sergio Pettis defeated John Moraga via unanimous decision (29×28, 30×27, 29×28)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Bantamweight: Augusto Tanquinho defeated Frankie Saenz via split decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28)
Heavyweight: Aleksei Oleinik submitted Viktor Pesta with a choke at 2m57s of R1;
Lightweight: Tony Martin defeated Alex White via unanimous decision (30×27, 30×27, 30×27)
Straw weight: Nina ansaroff submitted Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger with a rear naked choke at 3m39s of R3
Heavyweight: Walt Harris derrotou Chase sherman by knockout (punches) at 2m41s of R2
Lightweight: Joachim Christensen defeated Bojan Mihajlovic via TKO 2m5s into R3
Heavyweight: Cyril Asker defeated Dmitry Smolyakov via TKO at 2:41
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