Brian Ortega Injury Gives Yair Rodriguez Anticlimactic Win at UFC on ABC 3

Yair Rodriguez got an important victory in the UFC on ABC 3 headliner, but it wasn’t necessarily the statement he wanted to make.

Rodriguez earned a technical knockout victory over Brian Ortega on Saturday when his opponent suffered a right shoulder injury in the first round of their featherweight clash at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. The bout was waved off when Ortega appeared to dislocate his shoulder while attempting to extract himself from a Rodriguez armbar at the 4:11 mark of Round 1.

“It was a really tight fight,” Rodriguez said. “It’s unfortunate that he dislocated his shoulder. I already told him we can run it back anytime. I prepared to win. I guess I did but not the way I wanted.”

The fight was shaping up to be a competitive one before the unfortunate ending. Rodriguez found success landing straight punches and a variety of kicks during exchanges, while Ortega looked to pressure his adversary and close the distance. “T-City” landed a takedown late in the period, and that’s when Rodriguez attempted to frame an armbar from his back. Shortly thereafter, Ortega freed himself from the predicament but was rendered unable to continue when the shoulder popped out of place. The former title challenger was at a loss to explain what had just transpired in the immediate aftermath.

“I don’t know how this happened. I wanted to keep going and this thing came out,” Orteta said. “I got two shoulder surgeries already. I might need a third, who knows? I was not in submission danger, so I felt good.”

Lemos Chokes Out Waterson-Gomez

Amanda Lemos added a big name to her strawweight resume, as she submitted former Invicta Fighting Championships atomweight queen Michelle Waterson-Gomez with a guillotine choke in the UFC on ABC 3 co-main event. The ex-Jungle Fight title holder elicited a tap from her opponent 1:48 into the second frame for the second submission victory of her promotional tenure.

Lemos (12-2-1, 6-2 UFC) was patient in finding her opening. Outside of a late takedown, Waterson-Gomez was content to remain on the outside in the opening round, but it was the Brazilian who appeared to land the strikes of more consequence during exchanges. Waterson-Gomez (18-10, 6-6 UFC) looked to ground Lemos again when her opponent overswung in Round 2, but after failing on an initial takedown attempt, “The Karate Hottie” found herself ensnared in a tight guillotine moments later. The Jackson-Wink MMA standout resisted for as long as she could before tapping, and Lemos graciously released the hold even before referee Kevin MacDonald could step in to halt the bout.

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‘The Leech’ Wallops Salikhov

Jinglinag Li returned to the win column in emphatic fashion, scoring a technical knockout victory over Muslim Salikhov in a welterweight showdown. A left hook-right hand combination dropped “The King of Kung Fu” near the fence, and Li (19-7, 11-5 UFC) sealed his win with a series of elbows on the canvas. The time of the stoppage was the 4:38 mark of Round 2, allowing the China Top Team representative to rebound from a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev this past October.

A measured opening stanza saw “The Leech” able to avoid Salikhov’s toolbox of spinning kicks, but the Dagestani did secure a takedown in the frame to gain a slight advantage. “The Leech” picked up the pace in Round 2, causing swelling under his foe’s eye with a stiff jab before slipping a punch and sending Salikhov (18-3, 5-2 UFC) stumbling backward with a massive right hand. Sensing the finish was imminent, Lee stayed on the offensive to drop Salikhov and earn his eighth KO/TKO finish in UFC competition at 170 pounds. Salikhov had a five-bout winning streak snapped in defeat.

Schnell Submits Mudaerji in Wild Brawl

In one of the best rounds of 2022, Matt Schnell had just a little bit more left in the tank than Su Mudaerji.

The 32-year-old Fortis MMA product rallied from the brink of defeat to submit Mudaerji in an action-packed flyweight showcase. A triangle choke rendered the “Tibetan Eagle” unconscious and brought the show to a close at the 4:24 mark of Round 2.

Schnell set the tone early by scrambling, threatening with submissions and landing ground-and-pound, but the opening stanza will ultimately serve as a mere footnote to what transpired next. Mudaerji (16-5, 3-2 UFC) rocked Schnell (16-6, 6-4 1 NC) repeatedly with powerful left hands and standing elbows early in the second frame, prompting referee Jacob Montalvo to hover nearby. Schnell never went out, however, and he shifted momentum when he backed up his Chinese foe with a right hand. From there, “Danger” secured a takedown and appeared to be on the verge of a stoppage with a hailstorm of punches and elbows from above. Mudaerji, who was gushing blood from the assault, improbably reversed into top position, but that only allowed Schnell to secure the fight-ending maneuver from his back. After the hold was adjusted and tightened, Mudaerji went out.

Burgos Uses Grappling to Edge Jourdain

Team Tiger Schulmann product Shane Burgos delighted his hometown New York crowd, as he captured a closely-contested majority decision triumph against former TKO Major League MMA champion Charles Jourdain in a featherweight clash. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 — both for Burgos — while a third submitted a 28-28 scorecard. Jourdain (13-5-1, 4-4-1 UFC) has a modest two-bout winning streak halted in defeat.

In a matchup that was billed as a striker’s delight, Burgos (15-3, 8-3 UFC) set himself apart through his grappling. “Hurricane” landed takedowns in the first two rounds, attached himself to Jourdain’s back and threatened with neck cranks on multiple occasions. Jourdain did some of his finest work in Round 3, when he walked Burgos down and put his foe on his heels with a relentless barrage of punching combinations and knees in close quarters. That final surge ultimately came up short, as the judges rewarded Burgos for his grappling in the first 10 minutes.

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Murphy Spoils Tate’s Flyweight Debut

Lauren Murphy put an end to Miesha Tate’s flyweight title hopes before they could really begin, as she battered and bloodied the ex-Strikeforce champion en route a unanimous decision triumph in a 125-pound feature. Murphy received tallies of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 to return to the win column in her first appearance since falling to Valentina Shevchenko in a flyweight title bout last September. Tate, meanwhile, has lost four of her last five in UFC competition.

Not only was Murphy (16-5, 8-5 UFC) stronger than Tate (19-9, 6-6 UFC) in grappling exchanges, but she made a mess of her opponent’s visage as the bout progressed. A stiff jab and close-range elbows and knees were the weapons of choice for Murphy, who bloodied Tate’s nose and caused severe swelling under her left eye as a result of that onslaught. Tate continued to march forward until the final horn but was unable to impose her will in the clinch or at range.

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