Alexander Volkanovski stops interim champion Yair Rodriguez, makes fifth defense of featherweight title at UFC 290
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us tonight, July 8, 2023, for International Fight Week, where UFC 290 went down live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Headlining the event was a featherweight title unification bout between undisputed champion Alexander Volkanovski (25-2) and interim champion Yair Rodriguez (15-3).
Volkanovski returned to 145 lbs tonight following his attempt to add the UFC lightweight championship to his resume, coming up short against Islam Makhachev in February, and was looking to make the fifth successful defense of his title.
Rodriguez on the other hand was coming off back-to-back stoppage victories over former two-time title challenger Brian Ortega, and most recently Josh Emmett, who he defeated for the interim title at UFC 284, the same event Volkanovski last fought.
Continue reading to see how this epic featherweight championship affair went down:
Official Result: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez via TKO (punches) at 4:19 of round three
Volkanovski secures three takedowns on four attempts through the first five minutes, spending a good portion of the opening round on top of Rodriguez.
Rodriguez begins to land his kicks successfully early in the second, though he’s taken down again about 90 seconds in. Though he’s right back to his feet, the champion handily drags him right back down to the mat and bloodies him up from top position.
This is looking a lot like Rodriguez’ fight with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.
Rodriguez was able to stay on the feet in round three and pick Volkanovski apart through much of it. The difference is he’s using his hands more, tying his leg, body, and head kicks into it.
Volkanovski however lands a thunderous shot that hurts Rodriguez; he proceeds to pick Rodriguez up and slam him down to the mat, where he then lands some heavy ground and pound for the third round stoppage victory.
AND STILL 😤
Alexander Volkanovski stops Yair Rodriguez in round 3 💪 #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/nifnnR5gMH
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 9, 2023
After the last two interim featherweight champions (Conor McGregor, Max Holloway) were able to defeat the undisputed champion and unify their titles, Yair Rodriguez falls short to ‘The Great’.
Alexander Volkanovski successfully makes the fifth defense of his UFC featherweight championship tonight at UFC 290.
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