4 UFC fighters and officials react (including Dana White) to the end of Yair Rodriguez vs Jeremy Stephens

The end of UFC Mexico was an utter disaster. There was no semblance of peace of any sort, as when the fight was called to a close as a no contest, the fans were beyond enraged.

When the poke first happened 15 seconds in, fans were more understanding of the stoppage, as they expected that the fight would continue after a short while. However, that is not the way that things played out in the end.

Jeremy Stephens, who said that he has received deep scratches to his eye, could not open his eye enough to see and as a result, could not continue fighting in that condition. What made things worse was that even after the full 5 minutes, he remained unable to open his eyes and see.

In some brilliant refereeing by Herb Dean, he did not allow the fight to continue and immediately after the allotted five minutes were done, he ended the fight as a 'No Contest'. There was an immense surge of the displeasure of the crowd, who threw whatever they could into the Octagon, the officials, as well as at Jeremy Stephens, who beat a hasty retreat.

While the outpouring of the emotions of the Mexican fans was there for all to see, this is how 4 UFC fighters and UFC officials reacted to the end of the fight. While some were disappointed, others reacted hilariously, while some more demanded a fight.

Without any further ado, let's get into it.

#4 Jessica Eye

This is one of the most repulsive things I have ever seen. I am so sorry @LiLHeathenMMA . Then fan will forever be in debt to you . 💔 there truly is no excuse or good enough explanation to justify such disgusting behavior . https://t.co/rebve9peco
— Jessica Eye (@jessicaevileye) September 22, 2019

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Jessica Eye was extremely disappointed with the manner in which the fans reacted to the fight being stopped. She put out a tweet saying that it was 'repulsive' and that there was 'no excuse or good enough explanation to justify such disgusting behavior' with a video of the fans throwing things at Jeremy Stephens while he was retreating to the back.

She also talked about it in an Instagram story, where she said, "Mexico... complete disappointment. I am utterly ashamed of the fan quality out there."

Eye was clearly not happy with the way that the fans had reacted and talked about how as a UFC fighter, she had to say that she would not tolerate it, as it was 'not fair'.

She reminded the fans that the fighters do not go in and throw things at the fans as they were there to entertain them.

#3 Carla Esparza

While the fall-out of the fight that disappointed all the fans present in the arena at Mexico City reverberated through the MMA world, there was one fighter that the Mexican fans also aimed a lot of hate at.

Carla Esparza was not at all happy with the Mexican crowd and talked about their behavior following both her fight and when at the end of the night it was announced that the main event would not be taking place between Rodriguez and Stephens due to the eye poke.

Earlier in the night as part of the co-main event, Carla had taken on Alexa Grasso. The Mexican fans were firmly behind Grasso, who tried, again and again, to make Esparza submit, but failed. Finally, when Esparza won, the fans showered her with hate... but it turns out that's not all that they showered her with.

MMA Junkie revealed that Esparza had told them that someone had also poured a beer on her when she was making her way to the back.

“Carla Esparza just told us backstage someone poured a beer on her when she was walking out of the octagon.”

Esparza expanded on this in the post-event media scrum, talking about how the fans had pelted the Octagon with things after the headlining fight was declared a 'No Contest'.

“I hate that type of behaviour. This is a sport. We all go out there and we give it our all. We work so hard to lead up to these fights. I wish those people — obviously that’s not everyone here — would have more respect." — h/t BJ Penn

#2 Michael Bisping and Brendan Fitzgerald

The most hilarious reaction of all came from Michael Bisping and Brendan Fitzgerald. Although Bisping expressed his disappointment at the way that the fight was canceled, both he and Fitzgerald turned around to view the reactions of the UFC fans with alarm.

Bisping stood up and started to film with his mobile phone, while his colleague was on the opposite side of the spectrum. He continued to commentate and ducked down below the table as the debris came pouring in.

Bisping appeared unconcerned and almost seemed to be enjoying himself, while others around him scattered and covered their heads with their hands. He was shadowboxing and having the time of his life.

In the meantime, Brendan Fitzgerald was doing the best he could to retain his composure and continued to commentate in as professional a manner as possible while hiding underneath a desk. Whatever else the case was, Fitzgerald was well and truly out of it when Bisping then started laughing and taking pictures of him under the desk. The difference in the manner in which the two of them reacted made the entire incident seem funny while debris kept whizzing by.

#1 Dana White

As the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, rare is the moment when something controversial happens in UFC and Dana White is not asked for a comment. This time was no different.

As soon as the fight was over, request poured in as White was asked his opinion on how the fight had ended and what had followed.

White had posted a picture of his foot on Instagram with the TV in front of him as he was watching a Patriot's game which featured Tom Brady.

While a lot of the comments were either disparaging him or agreeing with him for his support of Brady, an overwhelming number of comments were also about the fight at UFC Mexico and asking his opinion on what had happened there.

A fan posted a comment asking him what he had thought of it as his opinion was important.

"Dana...What was your opinion last night on the stoppage of the fight last night...did you think it was that serious...your input is very important to your fans...My team is a die hard fan towards yourself."

Dana decided to reply to the fan by saying that he felt that Stephens was a tough and nasty fighter, who would not say that he could not see if he was okay.