UFC 290: Alexander Volkanovski stops Yair Rodriguez on wild night of fights
Alexander Volkanovski continued his dominant run at the top of the UFC featherweight division on Saturday, stopping interim champion Yair Rodriguez to unify the titles.
Volkanovski controlled the Mexican on the mat for most of the first two rounds, and just as Rodriguez came to life in the knockdowns, Volkanovski fired back with a hard right hook, providing a ground-and-pound finish in Round 3.
The result at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena not only saw the Aussie retain his featherweight title, but also bounced back from a narrow loss to Islam Makhachev – Volkanovski’s first loss in 10 years, and one that came when the 34 -year-old fought for the light belt in February.
In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja won a thrilling bout with Brandon Moreno to take the flyweight title from the Mexican with a split decision win. The win also put the Brazilian 3-0 up against two-time champions Moreno, whom Pantoja also defeated in 2016 and 2018.
Earlier in the night, South African Dricus Du Plessis stunned Robert Whittaker by TKOing the former middleweight champion before taking on reigning champion Israel Adesanya in a heated exchange of blows. Meanwhile, ex-US President Donald Trump watched from the ring.
Also, former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler won his retirement fight by knocking out Niko Price in the first minute, Dan Hooker bested Jalin Turner despite suffering a broken arm, and Bo Nickal knocked out Val Woodburn and increased to 5:0 with his fifth first goal. round conclusion.
Full UFC 290 Results
Alexandre Pantoja won the flyweight title by besting Brandon Moreno
(Getty Images)
main card
Alexander Volkanovski defeated. Yair Rodriguez via third-round TKO (4:19)
Alexandre Pantoja defeated. Brandon Moreno by split decision (46-49, 48-47, 48-47)
Defeated Dricus Du Plessis. Robert Whittaker via second-round TKO (punches, 2:23)
Dan Hooker defeated. Jalin Turner via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Bo defeated Nickal. Val Woodburn via TKO in the first round (punches, 0:38)
front matter
Robbie Lawler celebrates his win in his last fight with an early knockout
(Getty Images)
Robbie Lawler defeated. Niko Price via KO in the first round (punches, 0:38)
Tatsuro defeated Taira. Edgar Chairez by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Denise Gomes defeated. Yazmin Jauregui via TKO in the first round (punches, 0:20)
Alonzo Menifield defeated. Jimmy Crute via submission in the second round (guillotine choke, 1:55)
Early prelims
Vitor Petrino defeated. Marcin Prachnio via assist in third round (triangle, 3:42)
Cameron defeated Saaiman. Terrence Mitchell via first-round TKO (3:10)
Jesus defeated Aguilar. Shannon Ross via first-round KO (0:17)
Esteban Ribovics defeated. Kamuela Kirk by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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