Alexander Volkanovski Stops Yair Rodriguez To Retain Featherweight Title – UFC 290

• Brilliant Alexander Volkanovski stops Yair Rodriguez to retain featherweight title.

Alexander Volkanovski brilliantly stopped Yair Rodriguez to retain his featherweight title at UFC 290 in Las Vegas.

Australia’s Volkanovski dominated Mexican Rodriguez before ending the fight on the ground in round three with a flurry of punches.

It is the 34-year-old’s fifth title defence since winning the belt off Max Holloway in 2019.

Volkanovski revealed he requires surgery on an injury after the bout.

“I’ll be completely honest with you, I need a bit of surgery on my arm,” said Volkanovski.

“But I want that lightweight belt, I’m still coming for that. Ilia [Topuria] running his mouth too, I’m coming back, watch out.”

In the co-main event in Nevada, Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja beat Mexico’s Brandon Moreno by split decision to win the UFC flyweight title in a gripping back-and-forth contest.

Pantoja, 33, was narrowly out-struck by Moreno over five rounds, but got the better of the grappling exchanges in a bout described by UFC commentator Daniel Cormier as “the fight of the year up to this point”.

Volkanovski cements spot as featherweight king

The main event was set up at UFC 284 in February when Volkanovski narrowly missed out on becoming a double champion, suffering a points defeat to lightweight title-holder Islam Makhachev.

With Volkanovski’s attention elsewhere, an interim featherweight title bout took place on the same evening, where Rodriguez, 30, superbly submitted Josh Emmett.

Rodriguez, alongside Moreno and women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, was one of three Mexican champions in the UFC heading into the event and said in the build-up “Mexicans were showing the world what they’re capable of”.

In Volkanovski, however, Rodriguez was facing a fighter many believe to be the greatest featherweight of all time.

Both fighters appeared relaxed, soaking in the atmosphere as they made their way towards the octagon, with Volkanovski revealing a scratch under his right eye which had been covered by a plaster during the lead-up to the fight.

Volkanovski struck first in the opening minutes, landing a takedown and controlling the rest of the round on the ground.

Rodriguez started to open up in the second round, throwing a number of his signature flamboyant kicks without landing, before Volkanovski gained control again with a takedown.

Blood started to pour down Rodriguez’s face as Volkanovski used his advantage on the ground to deliver a number of punches and elbows.

Rodriguez started to find success midway through the fight, finding a home for his kicks which were acknowledged by Volkanovski with a nod of approval, before the fight-ending moment came.

The champion landed a flush counter right hook before taking Rodriguez down and landing repeated punches, causing the referee to stop the fight.

Volkanovski paid tribute to the unorthodox Rodriguez after the bout.

“You’ve got to expect the unexpected. I’m being honest with you, through camp there was fear there with his striking,” said Volkanovski.

“But I’m the champ, the king of this division and nobody is stopping me.”

Pantoja beats Moreno for first UFC title

Moreno, 29, came into the co-main event after finally closing his epic four-fight rivalry with Deiveson Figueiredo – a UFC record for the amount of times two athletes had faced one another.

Moreno said he had contrasting emotions moving on from Figueiredo in that he was “grateful” for the time they spent together in the octagon but was “happy” to be moving on to a new challenge.

In Pantoja he was facing another former foe, however, with the Brazilian beating Moreno twice previously, in 2016 and 2018.

Moreno, backed by swathes of vocal Mexican fans in the arena, looked relaxed as he sung along to his theme during his walkout – in contrast to the angry expression he sported during previous bouts with Figueiredo.

Pantoja delivered the first telling moment of the fight as he dropped Moreno with a big left hand, before opening a large cut above the Mexican’s right eye on the ground with an elbow.

Despite taking big damage, Moreno’s corner maintained confidence at the end of the round, telling their fighter Pantoja was already tiring.

And their observation looked to be correct as Moreno gained the upper hand in the second round, connecting at will with his jab and winning the grappling exchanges.

But momentum continued to swing midway through the bout as Pantoja landed two takedowns in between Moreno doing more damage in the stand-up, including a clean up-elbow strike.

Pantoja continued to grapple in the fourth round, earning valuable control time, before ending the fight in a dominant position, on Moreno’s back searching for a rear-naked choke.

As the fight ended, both athletes raised their arms in the air, believing they had won, before Pantoja was confirmed as the victor.

“If you know my story you’re gonna love me. I worked so hard for that, I can touch it [the belt] now, I can feel it,” said a tearful Pantoja.

“I worked so hard, I brought my family to the United States. I left everything I had. My mum took care of me and my two brothers alone. Now Dad, are you proud of me?”