At UFC Denver, Yair Rodriguez and the Korean Zomb
In the main event of UFC Denver, where the promotion was celebrating 25 years of existence, ‘El Pantera’ Yair Rodriguez got back to winning ways by defeating ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jun, a former UFC title challenger, padding his credentials as a potential star of the featherweight division.
The bout, which lasted until the penultimate second of the final round, may well go down as the Fight of the Year with an all-time great finish.
Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez def. Chan Sung Jung by KO (elbow), Round 5 (4:59)
Jung and Rodriguez got into it immediately, trading hard leg kicks, the first of which looked to buckle Jung. But Jung fortified himself and threw power punches towards Rodriguez, who responded in kind, but neither man landed their best shots. With Jung committed to plodding forwards looking to swing hard punches, Rodriguez enjoyed more success hacking at Jung’s legs with hard and unchecked kicks. With Jung expecting kicks, Rodriguez surprised him with a crafty left hand that snapped his head back momentarily. But Jung, as his nickname suggests, came forward right after, throwing short combos and prompting Rodriguez to float out of range. Towards the final minute of the round, Jung was able to catch Rodriguez with one of his flurries, but the Mexican didn’t seem damaged by it. The end of the round came during a scramble, off of a Rodriguez takedown attempt.
In the second round, both men resumed their chess match — standing in front of each other, winging single shots, at first, followed by short combos. It all looked good, but nothing solid landed. Jung changed up the pace by initiating a clinch. Against the fence Rodriguez took control. Action was then stopped for a Rodriguez low blow on Jung. The action was reset in the middle of the cage. Rodriguez kept up his kick attack versus Jung, having a lightning fast head kick blocked by Jung. A patient looking Jung eventually stormed forward with a two punch combo, which Rodriguez slipped and then answered with a spinning elbow. That strike landed, but Jung didn’t seem too bothered. The next shot of note also came from Rodriguez, a chopping hammerfist to Jung’s collarbone. Rodriguez next attack involved a jumping knee to roundhouse kick combination, which Jung avoided. The Korean’s response was a simple, but equally dangerous, flurry of punches. One of which made Rodriguez pause, just before the round ended.
Rodriguez and Jung continued their toe to toe battle in the third round, with Jung throwing heavy leather, that connected on occasion, and Rodriguez swinging for the fences with spinning kicks. Rodriguez wowed the crowd with a cartwheel kick, which missed its target, but succeeded in keeping Jung at distance. Jung had begun wearing Rodriguez’s best shots at this point, with blood trickling from a split lip, but he still came forward, catching Rodriguez with clubbing punches. Towards the end of the round an especially entertaining exchange broke out with Jung making Rodriguez stagger back from a punch and then blocking another hard head kick. In the dying moments of the round, Rodriguez attempted some rolling thunder, but he ate another solid hook from Jung when he got back up.
In the fourth, Jung started the action with a step in uppercut that landed clean. In response, a now bloodied Rodriguez went back to the leg kicks, but had to always be ready to hop backwards out of range of Jung’s advancing combos. Rodriguez also landed a few clean kicks to the body, while Jung was finding success with pumping right hooks. One of those hooks sent Rodriguez reeling back towards the fence. Jung chased him down with a flying knee that missed. When they moved back to the centre of the cage, Jung continued to find a home for his punches with either hand. The round ended with both men needing treatment for their busted up and bleeding faces.
Both men looked fresh coming out for the final round, despite the dreaded altitude in Denver. After embracing in the middle of the cage, they resumed their striking match, with Jung landing the first hard shot, a right hook, of the round. Rodriguez tried another spinning elbow, but Jung made him pay with a simple but effective hook. Next Rodriguez tried, and missed, with a superman punch. And Jung again landed a hook in reply. Rodriguez tried his luck with a takedown next, but Jung was too strong and he landed another punch as Rodriguez abandoned the shot. With less than two minutes remaining, Rodriguez and Jung seemed content to stand more or less still, waiting for each other to send and return volleys. With the clock winding down, Rodriguez looked to goad Jung into posing for the cameras instead of finishing the fight with a brawl.
With less than ten seconds left, Jung decided to go for it, lunging forwards with punches. As he did, Rodriguez pulled off one of the most remarkable strikes ever seen in MMA. With his head ducked, and an instinctual knowledge of where Jung’s head would be, he threw and elbow upwards, crumbling Jung to the ground just before the final buzzer sounded. In a fight he might have been losing on the scorecards, Rodriguez secured an improbable victory in a fight that will be remembered for years to come.
ie throw down in a potential Fight of the Year.
