Then again, those are two of the hallmarks of Holloway’s style, and “Blessed” took whatever came his way and answered back in kind. Told between rounds that he needed a finish to win, Rodriguez went after it to begin the fifth frame, showing remarkable stamina and resilience. An inadvertent eye poke by Holloway brought a brief halt to the action, and then it was back to each fighter looking to end matters with whatever weapons they had at their disposal. With 1:45 to go, the two rose, Rodriguez trying a pair of spinning moves to catch Holloway napping.
Rodriguez survived but was taken to the mat, and Holloway’s punishing attack resumed. The exchanges remained heated in the fourth round before Holloway suddenly sought out a standing guillotine in the second minute. It was Holloway who got the fight to the mat, though, and in the final minute, the former champ finished strong with ground strikes that continued to leave their effect on Rodriguez’ face. Rodriguez defended well and got back to his feet, and while he initially appeared weary, he fired off a flurry and sought out a takedown. Holloway scored with a flying knee to start the third, and while Rodriguez continued to focus on the legs, “Blessed” didn’t stop moving forward, and after what appeared to be a flash knockdown but was revealed to be a slip, he got into the mount position on his foe, looking to finish with plenty of time left on the clock. When Holloway tired of the kicks, he fired back and tagged the Mexican, and it appeared that his strikes were having more of an effect on Rodrigues, who appeared to get stung by a knee in the closing minute. Rodriguez kept a high pace in the second round, focusing on battering Holloway’s legs. Rodriguez proceeded to look for a takedown in the final minute, momentarily halting the Hawaiian’s momentum until the two ended the round looking to make a statement. With a little under two minutes left, the two traded flush right hands, Holloway’s opening a cut under his foe’s left eye.
Holloway wasn’t bothered, but it was Rodriguez outworking him. Holloway got right in Rodriguez’ face, hoping to get within the range of his opponent’s kicks, but “El Pantera” found the room to get those shots in, and when Holloway did get close, Rodriguez landed his share of hard punches. The No.3-ranked Rodriguez, back in action for the first time since October 2019, falls to 14-3, 1 NC. Big things were expected from the UFC Fight Night main event between Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez, and big things were delivered by the featherweight stars, as they battled hard for five compelling rounds, with Holloway emerging victorious via unanimous decision.
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