Yair Rodriguez channels anger before UFC on ESPN 6; Jeremy Stephens unloads

BOSTON – There are few things that get more eyeballs on fights than two fighters who truly don’t like each other.

Featherweights Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens have that “it” factor level disdain. It’s authentic, and the public knows it. Viewers have seen the exact sequence of events play out in front of their eyes. That’s where the anticipation comes from.

It’s not a sparring session from 10 years ago behind closed doors. It’s not a callout behind a keyboard, which may or may not have been tweeted by a manager. It’s real life playing out in ways that couldn’t possibly be scripted.

The “eye poke heard ’round the world” had a domino effect – that much is clear. The errant finger led to controversy, which led to a fiery post-fight scrum and a subsequent hotel altercation.

Twenty-seven days later, Rodriguez (12-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and Stephens (28-16 MMA, 15-15 UFC) will step into the cage again in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 6. The event takes place Friday at TD Garden in Boston and airs on ESPN2.

During an open workout held at the famous Peter Welch’s Gym on Tuesday, both men worked out in front of a gathered crowd of UFC fans and media who showed up to watch. After doing a hand-eye coordination drill with a tennis ball on a string, Rodriguez thrilled onlookers with spinning kicks of all varieties. Many fighters decided to cruise through the open workouts, but not Stephens, who threw absolute haymakers for the duration of his workout.

When it came time to speak with the media, Rodriguez was up first. Surprisingly, “El Pantera” said his anger towards Stephens has passed.

“You know what?” Rodriguez asked. “You’ve got to be able to let go. After meditating a lot and reading books and passing times with myself and friends and talking to my family and stuff, I got to the realization that it is what it is.

“… If you’re living in the past, you’re depressed. If you’re living in the future, you have anxiety. If you’re in the present moment, you’re happy. All I’m doing is focusing on this right here right now, and this is the only thing that we have.”

On the flip side of the coin, Stephens’s vintage charged behavior was in full force. While he indicated he was sick of talking about the eye poke, he let his disdain for Rodriguez be known loud and clear.

At the conclusion of his workout, Stephens stepped through the ropes of the boxing ring and let out a deep scream: ‘(Expletive) Yair,’ which echoed throughout the gym. The crowd went nuts.

“I’m feeling good,” Stephens told the media post-workout. “Cool as a cucumber. Calm like bomb. I’m ready to go off. I’m going to kill this kid. If he don’t die, it doesn’t count. That’s what I’m thinking.”

Their outlooks differ on the future, as well as the past. Each 145-pound  contender gave his perspective on the hotel run-in from Mexico City, eventually diverging into different takes.

Rodriguez claimed he respectfully approached Stephens only to be ignored. “El Pantera” said he didn’t mean any harm by follow-up questions but received a shove for his efforts.

Meanwhile, Stephens saw things differently. “Lil’ Heathen” took a shot at Rodriguez, as well as his family, which could elevate the ever-increasingly personal rivalry to new heights.

“I don’t like to conduct myself like that, but when you’re coming up and provoking me,” Stephens said. “I thought he was trying to be cool, say ‘Hey, let’s run it back, no problem.’ Unfortunately, that wasn’t the situation. Notice when I hit him, his eyes changed.

“If that was my family, and my family was around, and somebody pushed me, cops are going to have to be calling my family like, ‘Hey, you have some charges coming up.’ Ain’t nobody is going to push me like that, bro. He just proved his whole family was (expletive) made.”

Despite his efforts to suppress his contempt, Rodriguez let off a spark every time Stephens’ name was mentioned. He still doubts the eye poke should have ended the fight.

“He’s the only who knows that answer,” Rodriguez said. “But from my point of view, the situation really overwhelmed him a little bit. What I think is that he could continue, but I’m not him. … We’re fighters. We’re here to fight, but if you go back and see body language, he never attempted to fight again.

“Whenever you have an eye poke or whatever, or something hurts, you’re praying to go back in there as soon as possible. You’re not going to let more time run. What was happening was a lot of time was running. It kind of was weird for me in the moment.”

At one point in his scrum, Stephens interjected a reporter’s question with “the eye (thing) is over, bro.”

That statement is accurate in the sense that Stephens’ injury is in the rear-view, but it’s hard to believe it’s been put to rest altogether. They’ll lock the door behind them (again) Friday night.