Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez UFC 290 Live Blog
Welcome to the live blog as Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez fight in the main event of UFC 290 PPV.
Volkanovski returned to featherweight division after an unsuccessful challenge for lightweight title against Islam Makhachev. He expected to reign supreme in the division once again where he had 11 wins in a row and dominated everyone in UFC.
Yair Rodriguez became the interim champion by beating Josh Emmett at UFC 284. Prior to that, he beat Brian Ortega in a fight night main event following a loss to Max Holloway. Did Rodriguez become another Mexican to get his hands on the UFC belt?
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— UFC (@ufc) July 8, 2023
To find out, tune in below as we posted live updates for Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez UFC Featherweight Championship bout from UFC 290 with live play-by-play and round-by-round updates.
Live Updates
Round 1: Volkanovski switches stance quickly in the opening seconds. No action for the first minute ans both men wait and watch. Rodriguez lands a question mark kick. Volkanovski lands calf kicks. Rodriguez lands one on the body but Volkanovski follows it up with catching his leg and gets a takedown. Volkanovski is on top of him and drags him towards the cage. He tries to get control and lands punches to the ribs. Rodriguez is trying to close himself and is not giving him much space. Volkanovski keeps him pinned to the mat for more than 90 seconds. Rodriguez gets up on the walls of the cage. Volkanovski gets him down once again in the middle of the cage and hits punches. Rodriguez fires some punches on his head though but has to stop to defend a submission. More punches from Volkanovski as he keeps Rodriguez pinned to the mat.
Round 2: Volkanovski is cut open in the first round. Rodriguez hits a high kick before Volkanovski avoids more kicks. Volkanovski fires calf kicks. Rodriguez is keeping his distance and lands some calf kicks in between. Volkanovski closes the distance and lands body shots before a big shot to the face. Volkanovski goes for a takedown once again and manages to get it in his second attempt. He does not get in control completely though. They are back to their feets but Volkanovski pulls Rodriguez to the mat once again. He hits punches from behind for a while before getting into half guard position to start landing punches. Rodriguez is also cut open on left side of his forehead. Volkanovski fires more good punches in the final minute. Rodriguez tries to stop him with elbow strikes to end the round.
Round 3: Both men throw jabs to start. Rodriguez lands a flurry of punches and kicks. He attempts more high kicks. Rodriguez throws in front kicks and a few calf kicks to keep Volkanovski at distance. Volkanovski lands a low kicks. Rodriguez attempts a spinning heel kick. Calf kicks from both sides. Rodriguez counters a calf kick with a side kick to midsection. Rodriguez keeps relying solely on kick now. Volkanovski closes the distance to connect a jab. An inadvertant headbutt on Rodriguez causes a pause in the fight. Rodriguez lands a question mark kick as the action resumes. Rodriguez hits jumping kick. More quick kicks from Rodriguez. Volkanovski lands a big right hook to stun him. Volkanovski jumps on Rodriguez to lands quick punches and gets him down to the mat with a takedown. He hits a flurry of shots until the referee calls for the stop.
Official Decision: Alexander Volkanovski won via TKO at 4:19 in round 3.
