The UFC on ESPN+ 17 main event was called off in just 15 seconds, but the rivalry is far from over.

On Saturday night in Mexico City, Yair Rodriguez inadvertently ended his headlining bout against Jeremy Stephens with an eye poke.

As Stephens exited the arena, he was pelted with dozens of concessions by fans in attendance. A heated Rodriguez took to the microphone both in the cage and backstage to question Stephens’ ability to continue on.

In an interview with ESPN on Monday, Stephens responded to Rodriguez and detailed an altercation the two fighters had at the host hotel that evening.

Stephens (28-16 MMA, 15-15 UFC) claimed a heated exchange ensued after Rodriguez (11-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) approached and verbally berated him in the lobby. According to “Lil Heathen,” Stephens took matters into his own hands and shoved the Mexican featherweight.

“I thought he was trying to be a gentleman,” Stephens said. “I get it. And he starts talking (expletive) to me. I was like, ‘Bro, I’m not from a karate school. I’m from the street. I’m here to fight. I’m here to kill you.’ Right away, my mentality is ‘back the f**k up’. So, I shoved him.”

In a statement issued to ESPN, Rodriguez did not deny Stephens’ claims and admitted to having hurled a few choice words of his own.

“He pushed me like a little (expletive),” Rodriguez said. “And I just told him, you will live the rest of your life with that in your head … if you could continue and didn’t.”

What was originally believed to be a single eye poke, Stephens stated it was actually both of his eyes that were affected by Rodriguez’s open-hand swipe.

“I was poked in both,” Stephens said. “When I went back, my right eye was stinging pretty bad. There was a scratch on that eye, as well. It is what it is. It was just a weird, freak thing. I just remember (his hand) coming down like ‘The Three Stooges.’ His fingers were in my face.”

Immediately after he escaped the flying concessions inside Mexico City Arena, Stephens visited the hospital to get examined. Despite the pain, there was no serious injury suffered, according to the perennial UFC contender.

The 33-year-old Stephens wants to return as soon as possible and cited the UFC’s upcoming events in Boston (Oct. 18), New York (Nov. 2), and Washington D.C. (Dec. 7) as possible dates to run it back against Rodriguez.

“I can get cleared,” Stephens said. “My eye is fine. It’s one of them freak things. It happens. I didn’t know if it was gonna be worse or not. Fortunately, I came out on a good end. Thank God, because eyes are nothing to play with.”