International Fight Week is here and UFC 290 is set to take place from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday night. The headlining bout will be a featherweight title fight between reigning champ Alexander Volkanovski and interim champ Yair Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is coming off the interim title fight win over Josh Emmett earlier this year on the same card that had Volkanovski challenge for the lightweight belt. Now Volkanovski will be coming back down to the 145 lb. limit trying to continue his reign.
Volkanovski comes into this weekend as the massive -340 betting favorite over the +280 Rodriguez. The champ opened the lines at a much bigger favorite, meaning the public might be starting to lean toward those big underdog odds of Rodriguez.
Alexander Volkanovski–Who Can Beat Him?
There really isn’t much you can say about Volkanovski at this point in his career. He beat the future Hall of Famer Max Holloway three times, and his only loss in the UFC has been when he went up a weight class to fight P4P best Islam Makhachev–a fight many think he won.
Volkanovski has proven that the fight system that he implements in his performances is very tough to beat. The only reason he lost to Makhachev is probably the physical disadvantage and the focus on defensive wrestling. It’s not out of the question that he wins handily if they fight again.
It seems as if the only way Volkanovski is going to lose any time soon is by a knockout that comes out of nowhere… which is exactly the kind of game Rodriguez plays.
Yair Rodriguez–Mexican Spirit Will be in T-Mobile Arena
If you haven’t watched too much of Yair Rodriguez, one thing you should know about him is that he has almost too much pride. Of course, you can never have too much pride in fighting, but he fights with his emotions on his sleeve.
With the whole country of Mexico behind him and fellow UFC champions Brandon Moreno and Alexa Grasso paving the way to gold for him, it’s safe to say this might be Rodriguez’s time. If the stars align for him Saturday night, he can be the next UFC champion.
He has plenty of skill with his explosive offensive threats in both his hands and legs. He throws elite kicks with speed second to none in the division. The randomness and the ability to freestyle out in the octagon is what Rodriguez needs to lean on to get the job done Saturday night. This might just be his moment.
Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez Pick and Prediction
After careful consideration, while breaking down both athletes and their recent fights, the official prediction of this fight is that Volkanovksi gets his hand raised.
The unpredictability of Rodriguez and his ability to finish a fight at literally any moment makes it tough to pick. But this is strictly coming from the past and knowing you should never pick against Volkanovski at the featherweight level. If his opponent doesn’t have notable physical advantages over him, he’s proven he might be impossible to beat.
With the mixture of power, speed, toughness, heart, and fight IQ–Alexander Volkanovski is impossible to bet against.
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