Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez both made weight for their Featherweight title unification bout (results here), which is set to headline UFC 290 tomorrow night (Sat., July 8, 20203) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. As is customary, the two talented 145-pound champions came face-to-face following the ceremonial weigh ins.
Watch them square off in the embedded video above.
Volkanovski is in search of his fifth title defense after coming up short in his bid to dethrone current Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, in his previous bout. Furthermore, “The Great” is looking to stay undefeated in the 145-pound division after rattling of 16 straight victories overall in his pro career. As for Rodriguez, he aims to become the undisputed champion after winning the interim title earlier this year thanks to an impressive submission victory over Josh Emmett (highlights).
In the co-main event of the evening, Brandon Moreno will defend his Flyweight title against Alexandre Pantoja, who defeated “Assassin Baby” via rear-naked choke on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) in 2016, before defeating him a second time two years later in Santiago, Chile. In further action, Robert Whittaker will face Dricus Du Plessis in a Middleweight title eliminator bout.
Watch them face off below:
Moreno vs. Pantoja pic.twitter.com/ZCFHKnLcfJ
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 7, 2023
Whittaker vs. Du Plessis pic.twitter.com/zr0eb29DGm
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 7, 2023
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 290 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard bouts on ABC/ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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