UFC 290 LIVE: Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez results

Re-live updates from two titles fights and a stacked undercard in Las Vegas

Ciryl Gane reveals key coaching tip that he ignored in Jon Jones loss

Alexander Volkanovski continued his dominant run atop the UFC featherweight division on Saturday, stopping interim champion Yair Rodriguez to unify the titles.

Volkanovski controlled the Mexican on the mat for most of the first two rounds, and just when Rodriguez began to flicker into life in the striking exchanges, Volkanovski fired back with a hard right hook to set up a ground-and-pound finish in Round 3.

In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja won a thrilling, back-and-forth battle with Brandon Moreno, taking the flyweight title from the Mexican with a split-decision win. The victory also saw the Brazilian move to 3-0 against two-time champion Moreno, whom Pantoja also beat in 2016 and 2018.

Earlier in the night, South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis stunned Robert Whittaker, beating the ex-middleweight champion via TKO before facing off with reigning title holder Israel Adesanya in a heated exchange. All the while, ex-US president Donald Trump watched on from ringside.

Also, former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler won his retirement fight by knocking out Niko Price inside the first minute, Dan Hooker outpointed Jalin Turner despite suffering a broken arm, and Bo Nickal knocked out Val Woodburn to move to 5-0 with a fifth first-round finish. Re-live UFC 290 below.

UFC 290 LIVE

• Donald Trump high-fives fans while arriving at UFC 290
• Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez via third-round TKO (punches, 4:19)
• Alexandre Pantoja def. Brandon Moreno via split decision (46-49, 48-47, 48-47)
• Dricus Du Plessis def. Robert Whittaker via second-round TKO (punches, 2:23)
• Dan Hooker def. Jalin Turner via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Bo Nickal def. Val Woodburn via first-round TKO (punches, 0:38)
• Plus full prelim results as Robbie Lawler retires with early KO win

[9 July 2023 06:47 · Alex Pattle]

Pinned

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez

Alexander Volkanovski continued his dominant run atop the UFC featherweight division on Saturday, stopping interim champion Yair Rodriguez to unify the titles.

Volkanovski controlled the Mexican on the mat for most of the first two rounds, and just when Rodriguez began to flicker into life in the striking exchanges, Volkanovski fired back with a hard right hook to set up a ground-and-pound finish in Round 3.

With the result at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena, the Australian not only retained his featherweight title but bounced back from a narrow loss to Islam Makhachev – Volkanovski’s first defeat in 10 years, and one that occurred when the 34-year-old challenged for the lightweight belt in February.

Full UFC 290 report and results:

[9 July 2023 06:49 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez

Is Ilia Topuria next for Volkanovski?

[9 July 2023 06:48 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez

Volkanovski speaks to his fellow Australians:

[9 July 2023 06:36 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez

Alexander Volkanovski (right) during his win against Yair Rodriguez (Getty Images)

Alexander Volkanovski celebrates his stoppage victory over Yair Rodriguez (Getty Images)

Alexander Volkanovski unified the UFC featherweight titles by beating Yair Rodriguez (Getty Images)

[9 July 2023 06:23 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez

Dan Hooker just posted an X-ray image online; he suffered a broken arm in his win over Jalin Turner earlier!

[9 July 2023 06:17 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez

Robbie Lawler celebrates winning his final ever fight with an early knockout (Getty Images)

Alexandre Pantoja lifts the flyweight title after outpointing Brandon Moreno (Getty Images)

Dricus Du Plessis after the upset of the night – his TKO of Robert Whittaker (Getty Images)

Dan Hooker won a war with Jalin Turner, beating the American on points (Getty Images)

Bo Nickal remained unbeaten at 5-0 with another first-round win (Getty Images)

[9 July 2023 06:13 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez

Volkanovski calls out Ilia Topuria, who is at ringside, but he also says he wants to go for the lightweight title again.

[9 July 2023 06:11 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez

Volkanovski: “I’ve got to be honest: Throughout camp, there was a bit of fear there – for over his striking and how dangerous he is. That’s the honest truth.”

[9 July 2023 06:09 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez

Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez via third-round TKO (punches, 4:19).

[9 July 2023 06:07 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 290 LIVE: Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez

Round 3

Referee Herb Dean to Rodriguez: “This is a hard warning... don’t bring me into this fight.” He references Yair grabbing ahold of Volk’s gloves and digging his toes into the fence across the first couple of rounds.

Stabbing right cross from Volkanovski. Rodriguez flicks out front kicks, then a head kick that is blocked. Both fighters switch stances back and forth.

Volkanovski tries to grab a single-leg, but his challenger wriggles free. Nice step-in right hook to the head by Volk, though.

There’s a clash of heads, and we’ll have a pause in the action. Rodriguez actually came off worse; it’s like Volk, the shorter fighter, accidentally headbutted him on the chin while closing range.

We’re back under way. Slick one-two and low kick from Yair, who then repeats the one-two but kicks high. Volk fires back with a big right hook, though! He swarms Rodriguez, dumps him to the mat, and keeps punching!

Yair covers up and hits the mat! More punches from Volk... AND HERB DEAN STEPS IN!

Wowwwwww. It’s almost like Volk was annoyed by those two quick combinations from Rodriguez, and decided to get him out of there within SECONDS.