RIO RANCHO, N.M. – Combat sport can be a cruel mistress, and for Albuquerque’s Tim Means, it proved to be a disappointing and emotional night as he fell to a submission loss at UFC on ESPN+ 25.
Means (29-12-1 MMA, 12-9 UFC) fought against the debuting Daniel Rodriguez with a heavy heart, as he attempted to produce a win in memory of Pete and Mateo Sandoval, two students Means knew well from his homtown, who tragically died in a recent car crash on their way to school.
But things did not go Means’ way on fight night as he was rocked, then submitted, by the impressive Rodriguez in the second round of their featured preliminary card fight at Santa Ana Star Center.
Despite his defeat, Means appeared backstage to talk to the media and praised his opponent while revealing an early-fight injury made life tougher than he had expected on fight night.
“Hats off to Rodriquez and his team,” he told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after his fight. “About a minute-and-a-half, second minute, I popped something in my knee, so we’re going to go and get that checked out. But, great fight on that guy’s part. I tried to tough it out (and) push through, and he hit me in the back of the head at the end of the first round. Again, I just wanted to fight or whatever. It just wasn’t my night. Hats off to those guys, they had a good night. I thought maybe it was just my knee that was hurt or whatever, but he caught me pretty good, so you can’t take it away from him.”
A big shot from Rodriguez left Means badly rocked at the end of the opening round, but “The Dirty Bird” recovered sufficiently on his stool to return to the fray in the second. But a confident Rodriguez (11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) loaded up on his shots and hurt Means again. Then, with Means looking to close the distance, “D-Rod” locked up a standing guillotine that left the 35-year-old little option but to tap.
“It was his night,” he admitted. “(I’ll) settle back and fix some things we did wrong, but all in all, I got out here and fought my ass off and did the best I could with it, and that’s all I could ask out of myself.”
Clearly emotional, Means then explained how he had hoped to produce a winning performance to honor the memory of the two youngsters who tragically lost their lives in his hometown.
“Life goes on,” he said. “(I) didn’t get the win tonight, but I did the best I could to fight for them. Love my people, love my state. ‘Get better every day.’ It’s what Pete would say. So we win some, we lose some. We’ve just got to learn from this and move on. Pete and Mateo are great guys, great kids. I was proud to work with them.”
Emotional Tim Means pays tribute after hometown tragedy: 'Love my people, love my state'