Alexander Volkanovski turned up and delivered at the T-Mobile Center as he brutally finished Yair Rodriguez in the third round of their main event fight at UFC 290. ‘The Great’ was the superior out of the two fighters as he nullified the Mexican featherweight’s dangerous striking with his wrestling skills.
He dominated Rodriguez on the ground by taking him down and landed some nasty elbows in the second round. In the third round, the featherweight champion landed a powerful right hand to wobble Yair and he followed it up with some heavy ground and pound shots and consequently, referee Herb Dean decided it was enough and stopped the bout.
Why does Alexander Volkanovski need surgery?
After unifying the featherweight titles by beating Yair Rodriguez and becoming the undisputed champion, Alexander Volkanovski spoke to Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview. During his speech, Volkanovski revealed that he suffered an injury to his arm during training camp and he fought through it at UFC 290.
Still has his eyes on the lightweight title đ@AlexVolkanovski with no shortage of opponents after #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/BLiaXwgrRu
— UFC (@ufc) July 9, 2023
“Iâll be completely honest with you, I need to get a little bit of surgery on my arm. Going through camp was a little bit of a struggle but I was always going turn up here and do my thing. Iâm going to go get that surgery as soon as I get home and I will be back in,” said Alex.
Volkanovski also added that he wants to fight Islam Makhachev in a rematch for the lightweight title, ‘”I still want one [more fight] this year. I will make sure I stay fit while Iâm in recovery and Iâll be back in here soon. I want that lightweight belt. Iâm still coming for that, whoever is next.”
Volkanovski also called out rising contender Ilia Topuria for a fight . It would be interesting to see who he fights next because the status of his injury is unknown and it depends upon how much time it takes for his arm to recover after the surgery.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Islam Makhachev head-to-head record
Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev squared off against each other in a five-round main event bout at UFC 284. The lightweight title was at stake in this champion vs champion showdown and it took place in February 2023. Leading into this fight, both the fighters looked to be in great form with Volk not suffering a single defeat in the UFC and Islam riding on a nine-fight winning streak.
https://youtu.be/TxKJSvenPx8
This made the matchup more exciting as one fighter’s streak would definitely come to an end. As expected, both Makhachev and Alex put on a great show and battled it out for the entirety of the five rounds. It was a nail-biting contest as each fighter had their moments.
In his career Makhachev defeated notable opponents like: Charles Oliveira, Dan Hooker, and, Bobby Green, while Alexander managed to score wins against the likes of: Max Holloway, Brian Ortega, and The Korean Zombie.
But in the end, it was the lightweight champion who got his hands raised by the referee as all three judges scored the fight in favour of him. He won the fight via unanimous decision and handed Alexander the Great his first UFC loss. It was an epic bout and the result hardly affected Volkanovski’s stock.
