Stephens and Rodriguez scuffled on Sunday, too

The UFC on ESPN+ 17 Jeremy Stephens vs. Yair Rodriguez was infamously stopped after just 15 seconds when El Pantera inadvertently, but irresponsibly raked Lil Heathen’s eye, and he could not continue.

Immediately afterward, Rodriguez disgracefully argued that Stephens could have been faking it. Fools in the audience apparently believed him though, and showered Stephens with bottles and cups as security got him safely out of the arena.

During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Stephens described the eye rake, and what happened when the two were leaving the fighter hotel on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1176198493054078977

“It was just a weird, freak thing,” said Stephens, as transcribed by Tristen Critchfield for Sherdog. “I just remember it coming down like ‘The Three Stooges’ – his fingers were in my face.”

And the next day they happened to meet outside the JW Marriott hotel.

We were taking off, and he comes up all cordial giving like a thumbs up like, ‘Hey is everything OK?’ He comes up and shakes my hand,” said Stephens. “I thought he was trying to be a gentleman. He starts talking s*** to me. I’m like, ‘Bro I’m not from karate school. I’m from the street. I’m here to compete. I’m here to fight. I’m here to kill you.’ So right away my mentality was ‘back the f*** up,’ so I shoved him.

And his coaches, his dad, his parents, and everybody are like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’ I know his sister has footage. I was waiting for them to release that footage, but I guarantee they’re not gonna release it because he looked like a coward there. I thought he was trying to be a gentleman, but unfortunately, that wasn’t it. He wants to talk…I don’t know Yair. He doesn’t know me. But I’m not like that. I’m not gonna [let] you talk s*** to me, especially after you eye poked me.

In an interview with Marc Raimondi for ESPN, Rodriguez offered his side of the scuffle. El Pantera said he approached Stephens nicely and enquired about his eye, and when he was told the eye was OK, asked further if it’s OK now, what happened in the fight? That question provoked a physical reaction.

“He pushed me like a little b****,” said Rodriguez. “And I just told him, you will live the rest of your life with that in your head … if you could continue and didn’t. Shame on you.”

Rodriguez continues to doubt Stephen’s story, and has now offered to fly to Stephen’s hometown to go over the medical records with him.

“I’m ready for the tests and the proof,” Rodriguez said. “If I’m wrong, I’ll apologize in public, no problem.”

That can’t come soon enough.

Stephens reports that he had scratches on both eyes, but the damage was only temporary, and the fighter continues – like a gentleman – to say he believes the foul was accidental. Stephens would like the rematch to be at UFC on ESPN 6 on 10/18 in Boston, UFC 244 on 11/2 in New York, or UFC on ESPN 7 on 12/7 in Washington, D.C.

Rodriguez has been noncommittal about a rematch, which speaks for itself.