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Yair Rodriguez on UFC Mexico: ‘I know how it feels to have an eye closed, and I still can fight’

UFC Mexico’s headliner fight between Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens showed a disappointing finish. Stephens was accidentally poked in the eye, resulting to a No Contest when he was unable to continue after being given a five-minute recovery period by referee Herb Dean.

The result left Rodriguez and the fans in attendance deeply frustrated. During the ESPN post-fight show with Karyn Bryant and Dan Hardy, “El Pantera” spoke further about the fight’s outcome.

“You always have to give the benefit of the doubt to your opponent, how he’s feeling,” he said. “But he’s the only one who’s gonna have to live with that in his mind for the rest of his life if it was a lie.