Jean Survives Rodriguez's Second-Round Rally

Thad Jean is the PFL welterweight champion, but he had to survive a major scare.

Jean stopped Ernesto Rodriguez in the third round via TKO at PFL Washington, but the manner of the finish did not show how close Rodriguez came to pulling off one of the more remarkable upsets. Rodriguez took the fight on two days' notice and nearly made Jean pay for it.

Jean floored Rodriguez briefly with a leg kick and worked effectively with body shots along the fence in the first. Jean attempted multiple submissions in the grappling exchanges, looking for a finish that did not come.

The second round was a different fight entirely. Rodriguez clipped Jean repeatedly and threatened with submission attempts of his own, troubling the unbeaten tournament champion in ways that the first round had not suggested were coming. At various points in the round, Rodriguez was close enough to a finish that the result felt genuinely in doubt.

The third round resolved the question. The fight went to the ground again, and this time Jean had more left than his opponent. After a failed Rodriguez scramble, Jean secured top position and began working ground-and-pound that Rodriguez could not answer. The referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the bout.