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Alexander Volkanovski brilliantly stopped Yair Rodriguez to retain his featherweight title at UFC 290 in Las Vegas.
Australia’s Volkanovski dominated Mexican Rodriguez before ending the fight on the ground in round three with a flurry of punches.
It is the 34-year-old’s fifth title defence since winning the belt from Max Holloway in 2019.
After the bout, Volkanovski revealed he requires surgery on an injury.
“I’ll be completely honest with you, I need a bit of surgery on my arm,” he said.
“But I want that lightweight belt, I’m still coming for that. I’m coming back, watch out.”
In the co-main event in Nevada, Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja beat Mexico’s Brandon Moreno by split decision to win the UFC flyweight title in a gripping back-and-forth contest.
Pantoja, 33, was narrowly out-struck by Moreno over five rounds, but got the better of the grappling exchanges in a bout described by UFC commentator Daniel Cormier as “the fight of the year to this point”. BY THE STAR