Sunday's UFC Fight Night 103 event ended in either of disheartening or exciting fashion when Yair Rodriguez earned a fabulous marquee win in his young career with a second-round TKO of MMA legend B.J Penn.
Rodriguez (10-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) stayed perfect inside the UFC octagon when he made use of his flashy and devastating striking to break down UFC Hall of Famer Penn (16-11-2 MMA, 12-10-2 UFC) and in the process set up a fight-ending stoppage in the FS-1 televised featherweight headliner at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix.
Pantera wasn't only one to earn a victory of note at the event though. Rodriguez, Aleksei Oleinik, Augusto Mendes and Frankie Saenz earned $50,000 UFC Fight Night 103 fight-night bonuses.
The UFC Fight Night 103 drew an attendance of 11,589 for a live gate of $913,372.75. Betting favourites 10-2 went on the card. Total fight time for the 12-bout card was 2:09:27.
Rodriguez's 6-fight UFC winning streak in featherweight competition is the third longest active streak in the division behind interim champion Max Holloway who had 9-fight streak and former title-holder Connor McGregor who had 7-fight streak.
The Mexican hasn't suffered a defeat since December 2012, he has earned both his UFC stoppage victories by knockouts. He out-struck all six opponents faced in the UFC competition.
Rodriguez has earned fight-night bonuses in the last three UFC appearances. Penn was unsuccessful in what was his first bout since he last fought in 2014. He suffered his fourth consecutive loss to extend his longest skid of his career. He hasn't earned a victory since November 2010.
Penn suffered the first knockdown of his UFC career after absorbing a record 1,034 total strikes. His four significant strikes landed marked the least of any contest in his 24-fight UFC career. Suffering a loss at the hands of a fighter who hasn't held or challenged for a UFC championship in their career was a major dent to the Hall of Famer.
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