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Yair Rodriguez delivered what is considered one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history when he faced Chan Sung Jung in the main event at UFC Fight Night 139 in Denver. Rodriguez shut the lights on ‘The Korean Zombie’ with one second left in the fifth and final round of their main event, also tying the record for the latest knockout in UFC history.
The bout went back and forth and was a 'Fight of the Year' contender even before the dramatic finish from Yair Rodriguez. 'The Korean Zombie' appeared to be winning the fight when he was floored at 4:59 to make the crowd go wild inside the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Here is a video of the vicious elbow knockout which was awarded the 'Knockout of the Year' by ESPN:
Both Yair Rodriguez and Chan Sung Jung took home an extra $50,000 as Fight of the Night bonus. Rodriguez received an additional $50,000 for one of the two stand-out performances of the night, with the other going to Donald Cerrone.
Yair Rodriguez stepped in on short notice for Frankie Edgar, making a return to the Octagon after a one-year hiatus.
How did Yair Rodriguez come up with the elbow?
Yair Rodriguez joined Ariel Helwani of ESPN just two days after the show to provide an update on his health status and share details of how everything transpired. Rodriguez accepted that while nobody had specifically taught him to throw back elbows, he picked it up from Donald Cerrone, who he was training with for the fight.
Of the last-second knockout at UFC Denver, Yair Rodriguez told Ariel Helwani:
"Nobody taught me [how to throw that elbow]. It was something I saw Cowboy doing in the back [while warming up] and I started practicing it."
Accusing 'The Korean Zombie' of letting his guard down at the end, Rodriguez further said:
"The last second was perfect. The momentum, everything was perfect. I made him react as I wanted him to react the whole fight like that. Sometimes when I wanted him to react that way, he was too aggressive that I couldn't counter. Whenever you think everything is over, that's when you put your hands down and it's what happened."
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