The 5 worst ever endings to UFC shows

#3 UFC Fight Night 159 – Yair Rodriguez vs Jeremy Stephens

The Octagon was pelted with trash after Jeremy Stephens' eye injury stopped his fight with Yair Rodriguez

This weekend’s disaster sits in third place in my countdown. Not only were the fans in attendance at the Mexico City Arena – as well as those watching on television – salivating over the possibility of a classic brawl between Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens, two of the UFC’s most exciting fighters, but in the arena at least, Rodriguez was being treated like a conquering hero returning home.

The fight started off well enough – Rodriguez came right out and threw a hard leg kick before winging a front kick at Stephens, but in the process, he reached out with his hand and caught ‘Lil’ Heathen’ in the eye. Referee Herb Dean was forced to call time, but instantly everyone knew this was bad – the cameras even picked up on Stephens saying it.

Dean attempted to let Stephens recover, giving him the allotted 5 minutes, but when it became clear that he couldn’t open his eye, let alone see, the fight was stopped and declared a No Contest after just 15 seconds.

That would’ve been bad enough, but to make matters worse the Mexican fans then began to pelt the Octagon with trash, with some debris even striking Rodriguez, who seemed indignant at the idea of Stephens being unable to continue. These were hugely ugly scenes and the lasting memory of the show will be one of sheer disappointment, as well as disgust towards the fans. A rematch may be on the cards – but I doubt it’ll be in Mexico City.