Yair Rodriguez Reveals Where He Learned Elbow That Knocked Out ‘Korean Zombie’

Over this past weekend (Sat. November 10, 2018) Yair Rodriguez pulled off one of the most amazing knockouts in UFC history. Rodriguez main evented the UFC’s 25th Anniversary show in Denver, Colorado opposite “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. The fight went into the fifth round, after an amazing back-and-forth, with Rodriguez pulling off a tremendous knockout with a second left in the fight.

It was one of the greatest elbow knockouts you’ll ever see. After the fight, Rodriguez was interviewed on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.” He discussed his win and the iconic elbow knockout over “The Korean Zombie.” Rodriguez said that, despite popular belief, the elbow wasn’t a lucky shot.

He has actually been practicing it for quite some time after seeing Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone do it. Rodriguez has been training with Cerrone at his ranch recently:

“Of course (I practiced it) tons of times. People near me throughout my career can tell you. If you saw the fight, I threw like five spinning elbows. I kept trying to make him come my way, to make him react and I couldn’t get him until I finally see the moment in the end.

“I put all my fate on my body and my technique and it was there,” Rodriguez said. “No one really taught me it, but it’s something I saw ‘Cowboy’ doing in the past. And I kept practicing it.

“When I was preparing at ‘Cowboy’s’ ranch, we were preparing for the spinning back elbows because we knew he would open up a lot with his punches because he always comes with hooks and hooks and hooks.

“I knew if I could make him come my way and go under him, with a kick, flying knee or punch threw the middle, I knew something was going to be there. So at the last second everything was perfect, the moment was perfect.”