Tag: alexander volkanovski

Alexander Volkanovski can once more call himself the sole king of the featherweights, successfully unifying the divisional crowns in the main event of UFC 290 — stopping interim champion, Yair Rodríguez with a barrage of late third round ground strikes.

Volkanovski, who made his featherweight division return at UFC 290 tonight, had headlined UFC 284 back in February in Perth, Australia — suffering his first promotional loss in a unanimous decision loss to lightweight titleholder, Islam Makhachev in a close, back-and-forth unanimous judging loss.

Landing an early lead over interim champion and Chihuahua striker, Rodríguez in tonight’s title unification bout, Volkanovski mixed up his striking with his dominant wrestling at times throughout the early rounds, opening a nasty laceration on the face of the former interim champion.

And despite some good moments in the third round for Rodríguez, Volkanovski managed to counter the Mexican striking ace with a massive right hook, before following up and dumping him to the canvas courtesy of a double-leg takedown. And forcing an eventual stoppage from veteran referee, Herb Dean, Alexander Volkanovski rained down with a barrage of grounds strikes late in the third frame.

Following his title unification win at UFC 290, Volkanovski revealed he is set to go under the knife to address an arm injury, however, plans to feature for a third time this year — weighing-up both lightweight title fights with Makhachev, and a featherweight outing with Georgian contender, Ilia Topuria.

Catch the highlights from Alexander Volkanovski’s title win at UFC 290, below

STILL KING OF THE FEATHERWEIGHTS @AlexVolkanovski stops Yair Rodriguez in Round 3!! #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/B4I8lR7WzD

— UFC (@ufc) July 9, 2023

Headlining during International Fight Week for the second time in his gold-laden Octagon tenure, Alexander Volkanovski is once again closing as a heavy betting favorite to retain his status as king of the featherweights, ahead of his UFC 290 main event slot against interim gold holder, Yair Rodríguez.

Volkanovski, a featherweight champion to boot, saw his promotional-perfect tenure come to an end at UFC 284 back in February, suffering a unanimous decision loss to lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev in Perth, Australia. 

Earlier on that same card, Mexican striking ace, Rodríguez landed the interim featherweight championship win – stopping recent UFC Jacksonville main event feature, Josh Emmett with an impressive second round triangle choke submission victory. 

So far boasting a perfect run at the featherweight limit since beginning his Octagon tenure, Volkanovski – who searches for his fifth successful title defense this weekend, is fast closing as a -400 betting favorite over on BetWay to defeat the +300 betting underdog, Rodríguez at the T-Mobile Arena. 

In four prior successful title defenses at 145 pounds, New South Wales native, Volkanovski has turned in subsequent rematch and trilogy bout title wins against former champion, Max Holloway – as well as toppling both common-foes, Brian Ortega, and in rather dominant fashion – Chan Sung Jung during his time as undisputed gold holder.

Also featuring on the star-studded pay-per-view main card, undisputed flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno is slated to attempt his first title defense since unifying the crowns against Deivson Figueiredo back in January on enemy territory at UFC 283 in Brazil.

However, the Tijuana native faces a steep challenge, attempting to avenge both exhibition and professional losses to the surging Brazilian contender, Alexandre Pantoja.

Successfully unifying flyweight spoils in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of the year, Moreno had suffered a submission off loss to Pantoja on The Ultimate Fighter – before then finding himself on the receiving end of a unanimous decision loss in a UFC Fight Night Chile meeting.

And despite suffering a pair of prior losses to Pantoja, Moreno is closing rapidly as an impressive -200 betting favorite to defeat the former and emerge from ‘Sin City’ with championship spoils in tow. In the midst of an impressive run, Pantoja is currently sitting as a +160 betting underdog. 

Another important clash takes place on the main card to boot, with former undisputed middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker returning in an officially billed title eliminator against promotional-perfect South African contender, Dricus du Plessis.

With the victor expected to take on champion, Israel Adesanya with a victory, ex-titleholder, Whittaker is closing as a -400 betting favorite to defeat du Plessis – with the latter coming in as a +300 betting underdog to defeat Whittaker at UFC 290. 

Closing as the biggest betting favorite in the history of the UFC, uber-prospect, Bo Nickal has received a shake-up in opponent ahead of the main card outing – with Val Woodburn replacing TUF veteran, Treasan Gore.

Grappling ace, Nickal can be backed as high as a whopping -2,200 to defeat promotional newcomer Woodburn at UFC 290 this weekend, with the latter closing as a +1,200 betting underdog. 

Ahead of his UFC 290 title unification headliner with interim gold holder, Yair Rodríguez this weekend, fellow featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski has vowed to implement a taekwondo-heavy style to outstrike the dynamic kicker.

Volkanovski, who will attempt to land the fifth successful defense of his featherweight title reign as he takes on Mexican challenger, Rodríguez this weekend, will also look to return to the winner’s enclosure for the first time since his UFC tenure began.

Headlining his native Australia back in February, Volkanovski suffered a close, unanimous decision loss to lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev in an unsuccesful pursuit of two-division champion status in Perth.

Alexander Volkanovski envisions outstriking Yair Rodríguez at UFC 290 this weekend

And drawing Rodríguez this weekend in ‘Sin City’ – Volkanovski, who is largely closing as a favorite to defeat the Chihuahua striker, has laid out plans to defeat the former at his own striking game.

“Everyone knows that I love to take people out at their own game as well,” Alexander Volkanovski told NBC Sports. “I like really challenging people and showing people how wide my skillset is, how well-rounded I really am. The Taekwondo challenge excites me.”

“I can’t wait to throw some spinning heel kicks, and ‘Taekwondo Volk’s’ gonna come for Yair (Rodríguez), you know, really beat him at his own game,” Alexander Volkanovski continued. (H/T MMA News)

In prior successful title defenses, Volkanovski has landed a pair of rematch and subsequent title trilogy bout wins over common-foe, Max Holloway – as well as stopping common-foe, Chan Sung Jung, and taking a unanimous decision victory over another common-opponent, Brian Ortega during his time as undisputed featherweight kingpin.

En route to his interim featherweight title over Josh Emmett at UFC 284 back in February to boot, The Ultimate Fighter victor, Rodriguez landed a first round TKO win over Ortega, who suffered a shoulder injury following a submission attempt from the former.