UFC wrapped their pay-per-view event, UFC 290, tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event had the featherweight title on the line, with the champion Alexander Volkanovski winning his matchup against Yair Rodriguez. In the co-main event, UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno lost his long-awaited rematch with Alexandre Pantoja.
In the main event of UFC 290 tonight, Volkanovski defeated Rodriguez via TKO to retain the UFC Featherweight Championship. The champion dominated Rodriguez up until he got the finish in the third round.
His win over Rodriguez marks his fifth successful featherweight title defense. The win also puts him in the conversation to compete in a rematch against UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev. In their first fight, Makhachev defeated Volkanovski by unanimous decision at UFC 284 on Feb. 11. However, some fans believe that Volkanovski should’ve won and are interested in seeing a rematch take place. The featherweight champion could also have a potential challenger for his title, as Ilia Topuria may be next in line as a contender.
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The co-main event had Pantoja winning the rematch against Moreno by a split decision. The new UFC Flyweight Champion was able to outpace Moreno and did just enough to win on the scorecards.
Pantoja’s win is his third win against the former champion and seemingly removes Moreno from competing for the title for a while. The loss for Moreno also shakes up the division because Deiveson Figueiredo could decide to move back down to flyweight for his next fight. Figueiredo is in talks to compete at bantamweight against Dominick Cruz later this year, but he is still ranked first in the flyweight division. UFC could also have Brandon Royval compete for the flyweight title next, as he was the backup fighter for tonight’s flyweight co-main event.
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Other Notable Wins From UFC 290
The other notable win from UFC 290 tonight was Dricus Du Plessis defeating Robert Whittaker by knockout in a middleweight title eliminator bout. The fight lasted two rounds before Du Plessis overwhelmed the former middleweight champion.
Du Plessis is in line to be the next title challenger against UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya. However, the champion wants to compete at UFC 293, which takes place in Sydney, Australia, on Sep. 10. It’s unclear if Du Plessis will be ready to compete again in two months.
The two fighters got in each other faces in the octagon after Du Plessis won. Adesanya made his intention clear that he wanted to face the potential challenger next, but UFC will have to make it official.
Photo Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports
UFC 290 Full Fight Card Results
Main Card:
- Featherweight Championship Main Event: (C) Alexander Volkanovski def. (IC) Yair Rodriguez via TKO: R3, 4:19
- Flyweight Championship Co-Main Event: Alexandre Pantoja def. (C) Brandon Moreno via split decision (48-47×2, 46-49)
- Middleweight: #5 Dricus Du Plessis def. #2 Robert Whittaker via TKO: R2, 2:23
- Lightweight: #12 Dan Hooker def. #11 Jalin Turner via split decision (29–28×2, 28–29)
- Middleweight: Bo Nickal def. Val Woodburn via TKO: R1, 0:38
Preliminary Card:
- Welterweight: Robbie Lawler def. Niko Price via KO: R1, 0:38
- Catchweight (130lba): Tatsuro Taira def. Edgar Chairez via unanimous decision (29-27×3)
- Women’s Strawweight: Denise Gomes def. Yazmin Jauregui via TKO: R1, 0:20
- Light Heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield def. #14 Jimmy Crute via submission: R2, 1:55
Early Prelims:
- Light Heavyweight: Vitor Petrino def. Marcin Prachnio via submission: R3, 3:42
- Bantamweight: Cameron Saaiman def. Terrence Mitchell via TKO: R1, 3:10
- Flyweight: Jesus Aguilar def. Shannon Ross via KO: R1, 0:17
- Lightweight: Esteban Ribovics def. Kamuela Kirk via unanimous decision (29–28×3)
