UFC 211 results: Former champ Frankie Edgar dismantles rising star Yair Rodriguez with ease

DALLAS – Yair Rodriguez wanted a fight with Frankie Edgar in order to accelerate his ascent up the featherweight ranks.

But as Edgar (22-5-1 MMA, 16-5-1 UFC) showed in a dominant display of ground-and-pound violence that forced a stoppage between rounds, maybe Rodriguez (10-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) isn’t ready for that next level of competition just yet.

The featherweight fight was part of today’s UFC 211 main card at American Airlines Center in Dallas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.

It didn’t take long for Edgar to get this fight where he wanted, and when he did it proved to be very bad news for Rodriguez. After wading through Rodriguez’s lanky and unpredictable attack on the feet, Edgar scored a takedown up against the fence and immediately went to work from inside Rodriguez’s guard, pounding him with elbows and punches for the majority of the round.

By the time Rodriguez returned to his corner, his left eye was badly swollen, and it would only worse from the damage that followed. Edgar was quick to score another takedown in the second, and after fending off a Rodriguez leg lock attempt he went back to work with strikes from the top, closing Rodriguez’s eye completely by the end of the round.

With the doctors and referee taking a close look at Rodriguez’s left eye before starting the third, the bout was eventually called off, handing Edgar the TKO victory over his much younger rival.

The win is the second in a row for Edgar, who has not lost since his defeat at the hands of Jose Aldo at UFC 200. Rodriguez’s loss snaps an eight-fight winning streak.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 211 results include:

• Frankie Edgar def. Yair Rodriguez via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
• David Branch def. Krzysztof Jotko via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier declared no-contest (accidental knee) – Round 2, 4:12
• Jason Knight def. Chas Skelly via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:39
• Chase Sherman def. Rashad Coulter via TKO (elbow) – Round 2, 3:36
• James Vick def. Marco Polo Reyes via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:39
• Cortney Casey def. Jessica Aguilar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Enrique Barzola def. Gabriel Benitez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Gadzhimurad Antigulov def. Joachim Christensen via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:21

For more on UFC 211, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Dallas.)