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The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 139

Yair Rodriguez and Chan Sung Jung put on an instant classic last night
Yair Rodriguez and Chan Sung Jung put on an instant classic last night

The UFC is officially 20 years old - time flies - and last night's Fight Night 139 from Denver, the birthplace of the promotion, was an excellent advert for the UFC in 2018.

The show had solid fights up and down the card and ended with one of the most entertaining wars in a long time between Yair Rodriguez and the Korean Zombie. 

Not everything went smoothly of course, but for the most part, it was one of the more watchable UFC shows of the year. Here are the best and worst moments of UFC Fight Night 139.

#1 Best: Rodriguez pulls off the miracle

When it was announced that Yair Rodriguez and not the injured Frankie Edgar was set to face Chan Sung Jung in the main event of the show, many fans - myself included - were overjoyed.

Sure, Rodriguez isn't quite on Edgar's level as an elite fighter yet – Edgar actually smacked the Mexican around in his last fight back in May 2017 - but in terms of producing entertaining fights, he's miles ahead of the former champion. That was proven true last night as Jung and Rodriguez put on a war for the ages.

It was one of those fights where defence felt like a dirty word at times. Both men were hurt on numerous occasions, with Rodriguez catching Jung with his flashy kicks and the 'Korean Zombie' using a clearly superior boxing game to damage the Mexican, leaving him a bloody mess.

When the fight headed into its waning seconds, it looked like Jung would come away with the victory; he'd done enough to outpoint Rodriguez in probably 4 of the 5 rounds. But that was before Rodriguez uncorked an upward elbow, of all things, to leave Jung unconscious just one second before the final buzzer.

A comeback for the ages? Check. A knockout for the ages? Check. Simply put, this was an instant classic.

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