Rodriguez-Stephens fight ends in 15-second no contest

Ugly scenes! UFC on ESPN+ 17 shocked MMA world after Rodriguez-Stephens fight ended in 15-second no contest.

Rodriguez (11-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) hit Stephens (28-16 MMA, 15-15 UFC) with an open-fingered swipe that landed in Stephens’ left eye in the first exchange of the featherweight matchup.

The bout was ruled a no contest, leading to an ugly scenes in Mexico City Arena.

“I apologize a great deal,” Rodriguez said through an interpreter. “We both trained very hard for this fight. Everyone spent a lot of money to come down and see us compete and support us. I feel very bad about this. Let’s do this again.”