Yair Rodriguez will leave UFC Long Island with a win, but it’s certainly not the way he wanted.
An anticlimactic ending closed out the UFC’s latest trip to New York after Brian Ortega dislocated his shoulder in the opening round in his fight with Rodriguez, bringing the main event to a close. Following a few exchanges on the feet, Ortega turned to his grappling, with Rodriguez trying for a submission of his own to break free on the ground.
This is when Ortega reached out to Rodriguez and pulled his arm from his guard. But instead of advancing his position, Ortega fell on his back in pain.
A replay showed Ortega’s shoulder popping out of socket as he wrested his arm free, which obviously brought an end to the contest.
The official stoppage came 4:11 into the first round, with Rodriguez declared the winner by TKO due to injury.
” It’s unfortunate that his shoulder was dislocated or something,” Rodriguez stated afterward. Rodriguez said that he had already informed him that he could run the race back at any time. I’d rather do it for a championship instead of being in a situation like this. No matter what the UFC decides I am fine with it.
“It’s unfortunate. I prepared to win. It wasn’t the way that I wanted. All my respect to him. It’s a pity. It’s part of the game.”
Yair ran straight to his corner after winning at #UFCLongIsland pic.twitter.com/NpiMmOjJgb
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 16, 2022
Prior to the stoppage, Rodriguez was looking fast and dangerous with his hands, clipping Ortega with several stiff shots as the featherweights traded strikes on the feet. Ortega eventually slowed the action by looking for the takedown, which resulted in the featherweights jockeying for position against the cage.
Once Ortega had secured a takedown he tried to use his Brazilian Jiu-jitsu against Rodriguez but the injury that occurred forced him to stop the fight.
” I’m sorry, Ortega stated while also apologizing for the inconvenience caused to them. “I don’t know how this happened. This thing happened. I’ve got two shoulder surgeries already. I might need a third one, who knows.
“We got stuck in a situation and his body was tight and I don’t know, it just yanked. I was not in submission danger. I tried to clear the leg and my arm just popped out. Yair, congratulations — if you don’t get the title fight, or whatever happens, let’s do this right. I want both of us to leave it all in here. Because I know that’s what we came to do.”
Prior to the fight, Rodriguez revealed that the UFC told him a win would earn him a shot at the featherweight title, but now it’s unclear if that will still be the case considering the circumstances surrounding his victory on Saturday.
” “Of course I want to fight in the title,” Rodriguez stated. If I had said something different, it was because I didn’t know better. Now I know he’s a f****** beast. All my respect to you. I hope you improve so that we can accomplish this s ***.”
Volkanovski is also sidelined right now with a hand injury following his win over Max Holloway at UFC 276, so he’s not likely to return until the latter part of the year. Rodriguez could be indefinitely unable to fight again if he doesn’t book another UFC Long Island main card to secure his No. 1 contender in the division.
