Yair Rodriguez earned the respect of UFC President Dana White after an enthralling fight with Max Holloway at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The featherweight contenders threw down in Sin City, combining to land the third most strikes in a UFC fight in history.

Yair Rodriguez may have lost the war, but he won Dana White's respect

Rodriguez enjoyed tremendous success thanks to his array of kicks, focusing on Holloway's head, legs and mid-section to try and keep the former champion at range.

Although it worked for almost two entire rounds, the Mexican was forced to ease off after his foot started to swell at an alarming rate.

In the end, 'Blessed' did enough to earn the win in his second fight of 2021, although 'El Pantera' pushing through the pain barrier after a two-year absence certainly impressed White.

"Anybody who's off two years, I never expect this kind of performance from them – at all," White told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 197 post-fight news conference.

'El Panter' was soon hobbling round the Octagon

"Not just the entire fight, but from the beginning when the fight started, his timing was perfect.

"His speed and accuracy and how he kept going for the calf kick. You couldn't look any better than Yair looked tonight.

"He looked incredible; his chin, heart – just everything. Everything was there."

"His stock didn't drop at all," White added. "He came in and fought his ass off. He looked great, and now it's just going to depend on what type of injuries he has. Go heal up and figure out what's next."

Rodriguez and Holloway embraced one another in the ambulance after the fight, with the 29-year-old going straight to hospital to deal with his wounds.

"Everybody thank you for being here for me and for my family," Rodriguez said in an Instagram Live video broadcast from his hospital bed 

"I'm kind of f****** f***** up right now, I don't even know what I'm saying. I just want to say, it was an amazing fight.

"Just keep moving forward guys. Thank you."