Brian Ortega’s first attempt vs. Yair Rodriguez ended in an injury and a loss. The second attempt started with an injury and ended in victory.
In a rollercoaster 15-minute stretch, Ortega (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) overcame an ankle injury and an onslaught of striking to defeat Rodriguez (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) by arm-triangle choke at the 0:58 mark of Round 3.
Ortega was tagged numerous times in the opening frame by Rodriguez, as the MMA world watched and wondered what went wrong with his leg during Bruce Buffer’s introduction. Ortega appeared to tweak something, and briefly hopped around around on one leg, but later revealed he twisted his ankle.
Impaired or not, Ortega controlled position in Round 2 before the submission came in Round 3. He ended Round 2 in mount and drowned Rodriguez more in Round 3. Ortega locked in the choke, got the tap, and picked up his first win since October 2020.
The release of the submission post-tap was a bit delayed, and got the attention of referee Marc Goddard who gave an apologetic Ortega an earful upon the fight’s conclusion.
WELCOME BACK BRIAN ORTEGA 🤯@BrianTCity submits Rodriguez for a HUGE victory at #UFCMexico pic.twitter.com/fn2yVkU5V8
— UFC (@ufc) February 25, 2024
Ortega, 33, snaps a two-fight skid that consisted of losses to Alexander Volkanovski and Rodriguez, who defeated him by TKO due to shoulder injury in their first meeting in July 2022.
Rodriguez, 31, is now on a two-fight skid. His previous outing was a TKO loss to Alexander Volkanovski in a July title challenge.
The featherweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 237 co-main event at Mexico City Arena.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 237 results include:
- Brian Ortega def. Yair Rodriguez via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 0:58
- Daniel Zellhuber def. Francisco Prado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Yazmin Jauregui def. Sam Hughes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Manuel Torres def. Chris Duncan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:46
- Raoni Barcelos def. Christian Quinonez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:04
- Jesus Aguilar def. Mateus Mendonca via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Edgar Chairez def. Daniel Lacerda via submission ( triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:17
- Fares Ziam def. Claudio Puelles via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- Luis Rodriguez def. Denys Bondar via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:59
- Felipe dos Santos def. Victor Altamirano via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Muhammad Naimov def. Erik Silva via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 0:44
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.