The MMA gods have finally listened to our prayers as brawlers Jeremy ‘Lil Heathen’ Stephens and Yair ‘Al Pantera’ Rodriguez have a quick turnaround.
The duo are rebooked for a showdown at UFC on ESPN 6 in Boston on October 18. The bout will serve as a co-main event for the card and will be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between former middleweight champion Chris Weidman and undefeated contender Dominick Reyes.
The duo were slated to fight at UFC Mexico card last week. The fight solely on paper, promised to be a barn burner. The stylistic template of fight had fans already excited and intrigued. That was however short lived as Stephens suffered an accidental eye poke from Rodriguez within 10 seconds of the fight. What seemed like a superficial one, quickly escalated to the point where Stephens couldn’t continue and the fight had to be called off as a ‘no contest’.
Tensions flared inside the arena as the audience started pelting beer cans, popcorn and plastic bottles inside the octagon, particularly on Stephens. A steaming Rodriguez expressed an element of doubt about Stephens’ injury in his post-fight octagon interview. That obviously didn’t go well with Stephens.
Stephens, who got diagnosed with corneal abrasion, later took to social media and started campaigning for the rematch. The duo also got involved in a hotel altercation with heated words.
Read also:
https://www.mmaindia.com/jeremy-stephens-extent-eye-injury-no-contest-immediate-rematch-ufc/amp/