T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is the site for this week’s premier MMA event: UFC 290. The main event is a unification bout for the UFC Featherweight Championship between Alexander Volkanovski, the current champ, and Yair Rodriguez, the interim champ. The co-main event pits two-time champ Brandon Moreno against challenger Alexandre Pantoja for the UFC Flyweight Championship. This fight is also a rematch of an exhibition fight on the 2016 season of The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions. Pantoja won that fight via submission in the second round, and then he beat Moreno again on the cards at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs Usman in 2018. Third from the top of the card is a UFC Middleweight eliminator between the former champ, Robert Whittaker, and Dricus du Plessis, who held the welterweight belt with KSW. Let’s break down the complete card as well as a UFC betting prediction about some of the top tilts.
UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez Preview | UFC Lines by Xbet
Main Card (Pay Per View)
Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez (UFC Featherweight Championship)
Brandon Moreno vs Alexandre Pantoja (UFC Flyweight Championship)
Robert Whittaker vs Dricus du Plessis (UFC Middleweight title eliminator)
Jalin Turner vs Dan Hooker (Lightweight)
Bo Nickal vs Val Woodburn (Middleweight)
Preliminary Card (ABC / ESPN / ESPN+)
Robbie Lawler vs Niko Price (Welterweight)
Jack Della Maddalena vs Josiah Harrell (Welterweight)
Yazmin Jauregui vs Denise Gomes (Women’s Strawweight)
Jimmy Crute vs Alonzo Menifield (Light Heavyweight)
Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Tatsuro Taira vs Edgar Chairez (Catchweight – 130 lbs)
Vitor Petrino vs Marcin Prachnio (Light Heavyweight)
Cameron Saalman vs Terrence Mitchell (Bantamweight)
Shannon Ross vs Jesus Santos Aguilar (Flyweight)
Kamuela Kirk vs Esteban Ribovics (Lightweight)
Alexander Volkanovski (25-2, -380) vs Yair Rodriguez (15-3, 1 NC, +290)
Is Volkanovski’s latest chapter in an epic career. In 2018, he demolished top prospect Jeremy Kennedy and fought his way into title contention with wins over Chad Mendes and Darren Elkins. In 2019, he went against type to beat Jose Aldo, using a striking approach that relied on feinting to win on the cards over five rounds. Each fight since has brought out a new facet to his game, as he took the belt from Max Holloway, defended it in the rematch and then beat Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung despite the fact that Ortega had him in a guillotine choke. A trilogy fight against Holloway saw five rounds of domination by Volkanovski. He took on the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, but he couldn’t prevail in a decision despite fighting him evenly for most of the match.
Rodriguez entered UFC with a lot more fanfare than Volkanovski thanks to his dynamic fighting style that showed a fearless commitment to pressure and volume in striking. He beat B.J. Penn in a highlight-reel fight but then ran into Frankie Edgar, whose top game turned things around and ended Rodriguez’s night with a doctor stoppage. Rodriguez went a while without taking any fights as he recovered, and UFC responded by cutting ties with him. They eventually resigned him, and he fought Jeremy Stephens twice but then didn’t get back into the Octagon until a loss to Holloway in 2021. The loss showed that Rodriguez could test Holloway and goad him into wrestling. He then beat Ortega via injury and controlled Josh Emmett to set up the impression that he is one of the top fighters in UFC today. Rodriguez brings an incredibly tough challenge at 145 pounds, as he seems immune to the knockout and also has a gas tank that never seems to empty. Volkanovski’s genius against Rodriguez’s adaptability is the story of this fight.
Final Prediction: Volkanovski wins via decision.
Bet on Volkanovski!
Brandon Moreno (21-6-2, -190) vs Alexandre Pantoja (25-5, +160)
Moreno has ridden a rollercoaster during his seven-year run in UFC – eliminated from The Ultimate Fighter early on in the series that Pantoja won. That setback, though, freed him up to take a late-notice fight against Louis Smolka; he needed less than three minutes to tap out the talented Louis Smolka, so the combination of his style and personality made him a UFC icon in their push into Mexico. However, eh lost clearly on the cards to Sergio Pettis in a headliner in Mexico City. After Moreno lost to Pantoja again, the promotion cut him for almost a year. In late 2020, though, Moreno had worked his way back up the ladder and earned a shot at the title. That turned into a five-round battle of attrition against Deiveson Figueiredo, which ended in a majority draw. This would start a four-bout streak of title fights between the two; they kept trading victories until Moreno prevailed in January.
Pantoja has been an exciting flyweight fighter for UFC, living up to his nickname “The Cannibal.” His grappling skill has been elite, but his commitment to a wilder style means that opponents who can match his pace would often wear him out, as we saw in his loss to Askar Askarov in 2020. Since then, he has managed his aggression level. However, it looks like Moreno has the ability to keep the pace going and force Pantoja to manage himself against getting undisciplined.
Final Prediction: Moreno wins via decision
Bet on Moreno!
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