UFC 290
2023 mixed martial arts event
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UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 8, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena facility in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.[2]
| UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The poster for UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | July 8, 2023 | |||
| Venue | T-Mobile Arena | |||
| City | Paradise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Attendance | 19,204[1] | |||
| Total gate | $9,750,000[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
A UFC Featherweight Championship unification bout between current champion Alexander Volkanovski and interim champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight winner) Yair Rodríguez headlined the event.[3]
A UFC Flyweight Championship bout between current two-time champion Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja took place at the event.[4] The pair first met in an exhibition bout on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions in 2016 which Pantoja won by second round submission.[5] They also met at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usman in 2018 which Pantoja won by unanimous decision.[6] Brandon Royval served as backup and potential replacement for this fight.[7]
A UFC Middleweight title eliminator between former champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) Robert Whittaker and former KSW Welterweight Champion Dricus du Plessis took place at the event.[8]
Former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler took on Niko Price in a welterweight bout at the event in his retirement fight.[9][10]
A lightweight bout between Jalin Turner and Dan Hooker took place at the event.[9] They were previously scheduled to meet at UFC 285 but Hooker withdrew due to injury.[11] At the weigh-ins, Turner weighed in at 158 pounds, two pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 20% of his purse which went to Hooker.[12]
A flyweight bout between former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and former Rizin Bantamweight Champion Manel Kape was expected to take place at the event.[13] However, Figueiredo withdrew in late April after he was not medically cleared to compete.[14][15] The UFC officially cancelled the bout on May 13 after it was announced that Figueiredo would be moving to the bantamweight division.[16] Kape is now expected to face former interim flyweight title challenger Kai Kara-France at UFC 293.[17]
Christian Rodriguez and Cameron Saaiman were scheduled to meet in a bantamweight bout at the preliminary card.[18] In turn, Rodriguez pulled out in late June and was replaced by promotional newcomer and former The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions cast member Terrence Mitchell.[19]
A welterweight bout between Jack Della Maddalena and Sean Brady was expected to take place at the event.[20] However, Brady withdrew a week before the event due to a Streptococcus pyogenes infection on his elbow.[21] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Josiah Harrell.[22] In turn the day before the event, Harrell was pulled from the fight due to being diagnosed with Moyamoya disease during his pre-fight medical screening.[23]
A middleweight bout between Bo Nickal and Tresean Gore was expected to take place at the event.[24] However, Gore withdrew just days before the event due to a torn ligament in his wrist.[25] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Val Woodburn, who was scheduled to fight at Dana White's Contender Series on August 29.[26]
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Alexander Volkanovski (c) | def. | Yair Rodríguez (ic) | TKO (punches) | 3 | 4:19 | [a] |
| Flyweight | Alexandre Pantoja | def. | Brandon Moreno (c) | Decision (split) (46–49, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Middleweight | Dricus du Plessis | def. | Robert Whittaker | TKO (punches) | 2 | 2:23 | [c] |
| Catchweight (158 lb) | Dan Hooker | def. | Jalin Turner | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Bo Nickal | def. | Val Woodburn | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:38 | |
| Preliminary card (ABC / ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Robbie Lawler | def. | Niko Price | KO (punches) | 1 | 0:38 | |
| Catchweight (130 lb) | Tatsuro Taira | def. | Édgar Cháirez | Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Denise Gomes | def. | Yazmin Jauregui | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:20 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Alonzo Menifield | def. | Jimmy Crute | Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 1:55 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Vitor Petrino | def. | Marcin Prachnio | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 3 | 3:42 | |
| Bantamweight | Cameron Saaiman | def. | Terrence Mitchell | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:10 | |
| Flyweight | Jesús Santos Aguilar | def. | Shannon Ross | KO (punch) | 1 | 0:17 | |
| Lightweight | Esteban Ribovics | def. | Kamuela Kirk | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
- For the UFC Featherweight Championship.
- For the UFC Flyweight Championship.
- UFC Middleweight title eliminator.
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[28]
- Fight of the Night: Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja
- Performance of the Night: Dricus du Plessis and Denise Gomes
