Volkanovski vs Rodriguez

Who won Volkanovski vs Rodriguez?

Alexander Volkanovski beat Yair Rodriguez by knockout in the 3rd round during the main event of UFC 290, on Saturday 8th July 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Featherweight division, which meant the weight limit was 145 pounds (10.4 stone or 65.8 KG).

This contest was for the vacant UFC Featherweight championship.

Volkanovski vs Rodriguez stats

Alexander Volkanovski stepped into the octagon with a record of 25 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 12 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Yair Rodriguez made his way to the cage with a record of 15 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 5 of those wins coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

Alexander Volkanovski's UFC record stood at 13-3-0, while Yair Rodriguez's came in at 10-4-0.

The stats suggested Volkanovski had an advantage in power over Rodriguez, with a 48% knock out percentage over Rodriguez's 33%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Rodriguez had an advantage over Volkanovski, with a 27% submission rate over Volkanovski's 12%.

Alexander Volkanovski was the older man by 4 years, at 36 years old.

Rodriguez had a height advantage of 5 inches over Volkanovski. Despite this, he had a 1-inch reach advantage.

Volkanovski was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 9 more fights, and made his debut in 2012, 7 months later than Rodriguez, whose first professional fight was in 2011. He had fought 20 more professional rounds, 82 to Rodriguez's 62.

Volkanovski vs Rodriguez form

Rodriguez had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Josh Emmett at UFC 284 on 11th February 2023 by submission in the 2nd round in their UFC Interim Featherweight championship fight at RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia.

Previous to that, he had beaten Brian Ortega at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. Rodriguez on 16th July 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at UBS Arena, Long Island, New York, United States.

Going into that contest, he had lost to Max Holloway at UFC Vegas 42 on 13th November 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had defeated Jeremy Stephens at UFC on ESPN 6 on 18th October 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at TD Garden, Boston.

His fight against Jeremy Stephens at UFC on ESPN+ 17 on 21st September 2019 ended in a no contest.

Activity check

Rodriguez's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 5 months and 21 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 4 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 12 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Volkanovski vs Rodriguez?

Alexander Volkanovski was a 1/4 (-400) favourite going into the contest, while Yair Rodriguez made his way into the ring at 11/4 (+300) with oddsmakers.