Volkanovski TKOs Rodriguez in Round 3 to retain UFC featherweight title
Alexander Volkanovski is still the best there is at 145 pounds.
Volkanovski defeated Yair Rodriguez via TKO at the 4:19 mark of the third round to unify the featherweight titles in the UFC 290 main event Saturday night in Las Vegas. Volkanovski successfully defended the belt for the fifth time. Rodriguez entered as the interim champion.
"The Great" rocked Rodriguez late in the third round with a big right hand. Volkanovski noticed his opponent was hurt and immediately upped his aggression, teeing off with strikes against the fence and then converting a high-amplitude takedown. Volkanovski pummeled Rodriguez with punches on the ground until referee Herb Dean waved off the fight.
This performance was a dominant display by Volkanovski. He smartly relied on his wrestling to beat Rodriguez, who's known for his power shots on the feet.
"You have to expect the unexpected (against Rodriguez)," Volkanovski said in his postfight interview. "That's Yair. Everyone that knows this game knows how dangerous he was.
"I'm being honest with you: Through camp, there was a bit of fear there - fear in his striking, knowing how dangerous it was. ... But a couple of days ago, (I had) a mindset switch. I'm the champ, I'm the king of this division. No one was ever stopping me."
Volkanovski secured his first of several takedowns one and a half minutes into the contest. The 34-year-old landed strikes on the mat and attempted an arm-triangle choke that Rodriguez defended.
The Australian dominated the second round. He landed trip takedowns and dragged Rodriguez to the canvas. Volkanovski opened up more with ground-and-pound and began to seriously beat up Rodriguez, cutting the challenger open and mauling him with elbows.
Rodriguez started to look better early in the third round. He missed on many of his extravagant kicks, but he scored with a big right hand and connected on a handful of low kicks. However, Volkanovski eventually hurt him and found the finish.
With the victory, Volkanovski is back in the win column after falling short in his bid to win the lightweight title against Islam Makhachev at UFC 284. Makhachev handed Volkanovski his first UFC loss in a competitive unanimous decision.
Volkanovski is now 12-0 as a featherweight in the promotion. He has defended the title against former champ Max Holloway (twice), Brian Ortega, Chan Sung Jung, and now Rodriguez. He was riding a 22-fight winning streak before losing to Makhachev at 155 pounds.
Volkanovski revealed he needs surgery on his arm, adding that "going through camp was a bit of a struggle," but he plans to fight again in 2023. He said he still wants another crack at the lightweight title and also mentioned top featherweight contender Ilia Topuria as a potential next opponent.
"Ilia's been running his mouth," Volkanovski said. "If he wants to keep going, I'll show him what's up and I'll squash him too."
Rodriguez was riding a two-fight winning streak. The Mexico native won the interim title by submitting Josh Emmett in February.