Travis Lizotte "Full Contact Writer"
To call the circumstances surrounding Ed "Short Fuse" Herman's (24-14) bout at UFC Fight Night: Waterson v. Hill this Saturday night against Boston's Mike Rodriguez (11-4); extenuating, may be able to be chalked up as a 'sign of the times' for our sport during this global pandemic. Nonetheless, those circumstances played right into the hands of Lauzon MMA's Mike Rodriguez, coming off the biggest win of his career just three weeks ago (an impressive first round Knockout of Marcin Prachnio (13-5) at UFC Fight Night Munhoz v. Edgar) Rodriguez was called upon as the third opponent for Herman Saturday night at the UFC's Apex in Las Vegas. With both Gerald Meerschaert (31-13) and John Allen (13-5) forced out of the Light-Heavyweight bout with Herman, aligning with Rodriguez's seemingly flawless knockout of Prachnio, Rodriguez will now find himself locked in the cage with Ed "Short Fuse" Herman, in the biggest fight of his MMA career.
The 39 year old Team Quest product Ed Herman has pretty much seen all there is to see across his 23 fights in the UFC's octagon. Coming to the UFC by way of season three of The Ultimate Fighter, where Herman lost a decision to Kendall Grove in the final, before going on to make 23 of his next 24 starts with the UFC. Herman has been in some wars over the years, going toe to toe with some of the world's best Light- Heavyweights in his 14 years at the sports pinnacle. By far, Ed Herman will be the most seasoned opponent of Mike Rodriguez's career and would be a huge name to add to the New Englander's resume as he looks to climb the ranks of a talent laden 205 pound division.
This is a pivotal fight for MRod, who is 2-2-1 since signing with the UFC following a devastating flying knee knockout of Jamelle Jones on the 2017 Season of the Contender Series. Rodriguez will look to build on his performance from last month, when he used his striking to dispatch Marcin Prachnio in the first round. However this time he will attempt to do so against one of the more durable chins amongst all UFC Light-Heavyweights. If Rodriguez's striking can indeed crumble the iron chin of Herman, MRod will be hanging up the next biggest win of his career and would likely send his stock soaring at Light-Heavyweight. We reached out to Mike this fight week to see what he had to say about the fight with Herman, and his quick tunraround.
"I wasn't expecting to get a quick turnaround, that fast, I knew I was gunna get another fight but I had no clue it was gunna be that quick. So I was just pumped for it, and I think it's awesome fighting Ed Herman, just because he is very durable, I can show off more of my tools, my tool box and everything. And it's a different kinda fight...it's fun, I like it a lot!"
Saturday's UFC Vegas 10 will be broadcast live on on ESPN+, prelims start at 5pm EDT, with the main card starting at 8pm. Rodriguez v. Herman is currently scheduled to be the second fight on the main card and should air around 8:30 here in the east. Here is a look at the rest of the card...
UFC Vegas 10 Main Card on ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):
115 lbs.: Michelle Waterson vs. Angela Hill (Main Event)
155 lbs.: Ottman Azaitar vs. Khama Worthy
125 lbs.: Andrea Lee vs. Roxanne Modafferi
205 lbs.: Ed Herman vs. Mike Rodriguez
145 lbs.: Kyle Nelson vs. Billy Quarantillo
UFC Vegas 10 Prelims Card on ESPN+ (5 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: Tyson Nam vs. Matt Schnell
155 lbs.: Frank Camacho vs. Brok Weaver
170 lbs.: Bryan Barberena vs. Anthony Ivy
155 lbs.: Matt Frevola vs. Roosevelt Roberts
155 lbs.: Alan Patrick vs. Bobby Green
125 lbs.: Justine Kish vs. Sabina Mazo
135 lbs.: Julia Avila vs. Sijara Eubanks
