UFC Long Island results and video: Yair Rodriguez gets injury TKO over Brian Ortega

On the UFC on ABC 3 main card, Yair Rodriguez defeated Brian Ortega due to an injury TKO, and Amanda Lemos stopped Michelle Waterson-Gomez by submission. 

Today’s early UFC Long Island card on ABC card just wrapped up in the same fashion as the fire prelims, with four-straight finishes across six matches. The finishes included an injury TKO, a guillotine, and striking TKO, and one of the craziest comebacks that you will ever see in combat sports.

The main event is where the injury TKO happened, as Brian Ortega’s shoulder popped out of place as he was defending an armbar from Yair Rodriguez. After that the fight was quickly halted and Yair was awarded the anticlimactic victory. A win is a win, but it’s hard to say whether or not this will earn Rodriguez a shot at the UFC’s featherweight champ, Alexander Volkanovski.

Before that, the co-main event took place in the strawweight division and saw the company’s #11 ranked, Amanda Lemos, pull off a guillotine choke on the #10 ranked, Michelle Waterson-Gomez, in the second round. The finish came as Waterson-Gomez shot in for a single leg and Lemos defended it, and then jumped right onto a guillotine. The referee was on the wrong side to see the tap, but good sportsmanship prevailed as Lemos unlocked the hold, and Waterson-Gomez admitted defeat. This is a huge way to bounce back from a standing arm triangle loss, and a great reminder that Amanda also has submissions up her sleeve.

In the welterweight division, the #14 ranked, Jingliang Li, stopped Muslim Salikhov with strikes in the second stanza. The opening act was a bit pedestrian, but Li hurt Salikhov with a massive right in the second, and refused to let him off the hook. It was a mother right hand that dropped Muslim, and some ground and pound sealed the deal. Although Li has alternated wins and loses in his last five outings, his last four wins have all come by way of finish.

We got a wild war today in the featherweight division that resulted in an impossible comeback technical submission. The UFC’s #9 rated 125-pounder, Matt Schnell, rallied through allllll the adversity to put the #12 rated, Sumudaerji, to sleep with a triangle in the second round. This one was so nuts! The first round was pretty normal, however, all hell broke loose in the second. Sumudaerji hurt, rocked, and dropped Schnell several times with stiff crosses and wicked elbows, but Matt just wouldn’t go away.

Somehow, Schnell kept recovering and manage to rally, finding full mount and dropping his own elbows to do a ton of damage. Just as Sumudaerji reversed into top position, Schnell locked up his triangle and realized the technical submission. This was an incredible comeback with an incredible finish, and is a true testament to what a well-trained human body can endure and overcome. Go watch this fight ASAP!

Shane Burgos vs. Charles Jourdain was highly competitive, ultimately resulting in a majority decision for Burgos. The first round was pretty close, the seocnd saw Burgos on the back for pretty much the whole time, and then Jourdain unloaded all the volume in the third frame. When the dust settled, Two judges had it 29-28 for Burgos, with the final official scoring it a 28-28 draw.

Kicking off the ABC main card, former flyweight title challenger, Lauren Murphy, took a unanimous nod over the UFC’s former bantamweight champ, Miesha Tate. Murphy was more physical right away, did more damage, and proved to be the superior fighter out there to spoil Miesha’s 125-pound debut.

**See complete results below

Main card:

Yair Rodriguez def. Brian Ortega by TKO (injury) at 4:11 of round 1: Featherweight

Ortega looked to push the pace right away, backing up Rodriguez, who was showcasing some quick hands. In an exchange, a small cut opened up around the eye of Yair. The fighters clinched up, with Brian pressing his foe against the fence. Rodriguez was having a hard time finding some seperation, but he did avoid the takedown. Once they finally broke apart, Yair connected with a stiff straight, and an up kick, but he got taken down. In a weird turn of events, Yair threatened with an armbar, but when Ortega pulled his arm out, his should popped out of place. Brian rolled to his back in pain and the match was waived off.

Amanda Lemos def. Michelle Waterson-Gomez by submission (Guillotine) at 1:48 of round 2: Strawweight

Waterson-Gomez played the outside to get things going, looking to remain out of the power punching range of Lemos. From range, Lemos was throwing out powerful jabs and kicks, trying to effectively close the distance. Waterson-Gomez was doing well at remaining on the outside, but she was too far out to land any of her own offense. With about a minute to go, Michelle realized a takedown in the center of the cage, but was only able to land one punch before getting swept as the round ended.

Lemos was doing a better job of getting into the pocket in the second round to land her punches. From there, as Waterson-Gomez went for a takedown, Lemos locked up guillotine. Waterson-Gomez was stuck and elected to tap out. The tap came on the opposite side from where the ref was, so he didn’t see it, but Lemos released the hold nonetheless. Michelle honorably admitted to tapping out and the match was over.

Jingliang Li def. Muslim Salikhov by TKO at 4:38 of round 2: Welterweight

Salikhov came out with his patented flash, but then switched gears to hit a takedown and get on top. Not much of anything transpired here before Li returned to its feet. Back in open space, there was a lot of measuring and moving around going on, coupled with a lot of missing going on.

Li was launching his own kicks in the second round, but Salikhov caught one of them and delivered a right hand to put Li on his back again. This time, Salikhov didn’t follow him down there, allowing Jingliang to stand back up. Li kept poking away with his leg kicks, and popped out a couple of jabs, and then snagged a takedown of his own. Not much happened before Salikhov stood up, but soon after that Li landed a massive right hand off of a slip that rocked Muslim. Salikhov started to wrestle, but Li was sprawling hard. The Leech was in pursuit, and brought a heavy right hand that sat down Salikhov. Some academic ground and pound ensued and that was that!

Matt Schnell def. Sumudaerji by technical submission at 4:24 of round 2: Flyweight

Sumudaerji was attacking the legs of Schnell right away, despite being pushed backwards. Schnell blasted a takedown and went right to full mount. He then took the back, but lost control and Sumudaerji was able to roll into top position. From his back, Schnell locked up an omoplata, and used it to sweep. He was able to land a couple of elbows before the bell, and Sumudaerji scored a few from his back.

Sumudaerji kicked Schnell in the cup 17-seconds into the second stanza. The match resumed and Sumudaerji landed a trio of southpaw crosses, with one of them staggering Schnell. Then a hook in an exchange briefly wobbled Schnell again. It wasn’t long after that that another cross from Sumudaerji sat him down. Schnell stood up, just for a wicked elbow to drop him again. Somehow Schnell stood up again, and despite being in a bad way, he was still swinging back. A big cross from Schnell snapped back the head of Sumudaerji, followed by a takedown. From full mount, a bunch of elbows came pouring down, cutting open Sumudaerji. Then we got a reversal from Sumudaerji, but Schnell locked up a triangle from his back. The squeeze was on and Schnell choked Sumudaerji unconscious. WHAT A FIGHT!

Shane Burgos def. Charles Jourdain by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28): Featherweight

Burgos applied pressure right away, kicking at the leg and making Jourdain uncomfortable. The fighters clinched up and Burgos brought the fight down to the floor. In brilliant move, Shane pushed off the cage to take the back. He threatened with a rear-naked choke, but Jourdain hung tough and escaped back to his feet. Jourdain then started to land some strikes on the inside and in the clinch.

Burgos pressured again to start the second stanza, with Jourdain meeting him with fast hands. Shane clinched up and took the back again, this time while standing. Jourdain tried to shrug off Shane, but despite the effort Burgos stayed attached. Burgos was threatening with a Suloev Stretch, which discouraged Jourdain from tripoding. Jourdain did not get him off of his back until the bell sounded.

Jourdain stood right in front of Burgos to open the final frame, going punch for punch. Charles was throwing in combination, while Burgos was launching one at a time. He started to swarm on Shane, landing a ton of volume while Burgos was getting overwhelmed. It was starting to look bad for Burgos, but he managed to clinch up on the back to stop the onslaught.

Lauren Murphy def. Miesha Tate by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28): (W) Flyweight

Murphy was being physical right out of the gate, clearly looking to lead the dance. She was putting hands on Tate and even stuffed the first takedown attempt. Tate started to pump her jab to back off the aggression, and Murphy then shot in for a takedown. Neither fighter was willing to concede the takedown, so the match resumed on the feet. In the clinch, Tate was scoring with knees to the midsection.

Tate got right to popping her jab to begin the second round, but Murphy busted open her nose open with some crosses. Murphy blasted a takedown, and scored a couple of punches before Tate scrambled up to her feet. Murphy seemed much faster with the hands, while Tate’s strikes appeared to be slower and have less power. The fighters were also exchanging mean elbows on the inside.

Tate attempted to get the fight to the floor early in the third round, but Murphy did a great job of defending it. Credit to Tate for continuing to press forward, despite Murphy being the stronger specimen out there. Tate started kicking at the body, and was landing more punches, but her strikes just didn’t have the same sort of pop as Murphy’s.