Alexander Volkanovski TKOs Rodriguez for successful UFC title defense, Pantoja defeats Moreno

Reigning UFC featherweight world champion Alexander Volkanovski made another successful defense of his title following a third-round technical knockout over Yair Rodriguez in the main event of UFC 290 this Sunday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, USA.

Volkanovski dictated the pace right from the opening bell before scoring a takedown just two minutes into the fight. The Australian did the same in round two, pressing the action and going for a takedown at every opportunity he gets.

While on the mat, Volkanovski unleashed elbows and punches with bad intentions. Rodriguez, for his part, finally landed hard strikes in round three but it did not stop Volkanovski from coming forward.

Volkanovski then landed a right hook that rocked the challenger later in the stanza. With Rodriguez visibly hurt, the reigning world champion took the fight to the ground again and rained down punches that prompted the referee to halt the contest at the 4:19 mark of round three.

In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja snatched the UFC flyweight world title following a hard-fought split decision nod over Brandon Moreno.

The pair fought hard for 25 minutes with Moreno slightly landing more significant strikes. In the end, Pantoja’s ground control proved to be the deciding factor as two of the three judges saw the fight in his favor.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News