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 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 35 years old.

Rodriguez had a height advantage of 5 inches over Volkanovski. Despite this, he had 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

Volkanovski had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges 3 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 on 11th February 2023 by unanimous decision in their UFC Lightweight championship fight at RAC Arena, Perth, Western Australia.

Previous to that, he had won against Max Holloway at UFC 276 on 2nd July 2022 by unanimous decision in their UFC Featherweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Chan Sung Jung at UFC 273 on 9th April 2022 by knockout in the 4th round in their UFC Featherweight championship fight at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville.

Before that, he had defeated Brian Ortega at UFC 266 on 25th September 2021 by unanimous decision in their UFC Featherweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

He was victorious against Max Holloway at UFC 251 on 11th July 2020 by split decision in their UFC Featherweight championship fight at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

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 been beaten by 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.

He had defeated Jeremy Stephens at UFC on ESPN+ 17 on 21st September 2019 by unanimous decision in the 1st round at Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Alexander Volkanovski had been fighting more than Yair Rodriguez.

Going to this contest, Alexander Volkanovski had last fought 1 year, 2 months and 14 days ago, while Yair Rodriguez's last outing had been 1 year, 2 months and 14 days ago.

Volkanovski's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 9 months and 14 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 3 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 24 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4.8 rounds on average.

Rodriguez's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 7 months and 4 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 1 day. 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.