Yair Rodriguez improved to 11-2 on Saturday night in Denver at UFC Fight Night 139 against Chan Sung Jung in a bout that went 24:59 seconds — that is to say, one second shy of the distance.
Rodriguez earned that last second win with one of the most improbable knockouts in UFC history. As the final bell neared, Sung Jung was on the attack and Rodriguez found himself with his head down and Sung Jung charging towards him. Rodriguez somehow was able to throw his elbow up at Sung Jung and connect square on his jaw to knock him out cold.
HOW DO YOU LAND THIS?!?!?!?! OH MY @PanteraUFC!!! #UFCDenver pic.twitter.com/CJx9dMpg0h
— UFC (@ufc) November 11, 2018
OH MY GOODNESS YAIR RODRIGUEZ WITH SECONDS LEFT!!!! WOW!!!#UFCDenver @PanteraUFC pic.twitter.com/J0xN3r6AIG
— UFC (@ufc) November 11, 2018
https://twitter.com/MMAFighting/status/1061506852150685697
It’s truly unbelievable how he was able to have the presence of mind to throw that elbow — or, simply, instinctually throw his elbow backwards, whichever is the case. It’s also a brutal loss for Sung Jung who, as you can see from the second video, goes out and crumples to the mat face first. It wasn’t the first wild elbow that connected on the Korean Zombie, as he had this spinning elbow earlier in the bout.
And THAT is why they call him Korean Zombie!@PanteraUFC lands a spinning-elbow FLUSH, but @KoreanZombieMMA just eats it! #UFCDenver pic.twitter.com/KtBUAkzZd7
— UFC (@ufc) November 11, 2018
Rodriguez hadn’t fought in more than a year, but returned to main event Fight Night 139 in Denver and managed to deliver one of the knockouts of the year in UFC and, truly, one of the most improbable knockouts you’ll see in all of MMA. Rodriguez improves to 11-2 for his career with the win.
