Two title fights. The retirement of Robbie Lawler. And the return of middleweight uber-prospect Bo Nickal. UFC 290 had a lot to offer, and it arrived on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
Atop the card, a title unification bout between featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski and interim champion Yair Rodriguez was set to determine the best 145’er in the promotion, if not the world. With Australia’s Volkanovski coming close in an attempt to secure a second title at lightweight earlier this year, it was a chance to reestablish himself as the most dominant force in the division.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, was looking to continue Mexico’s strong start to 2023, which had seen Brandon Moreno, Alexa Grasso, and himself all claim gold (a fourth Mexican standout, Irene Aldana, had come up short in her first title fight just last month).
Speaking of Moreno, he anchored the co-main event, putting his flyweight title on the line against Alexandre Pantoja — a man he had lost to twice previously, though never with gold on the line.
And as mentioned, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler called it a career at UFC 290, as the former welterweight champion went up against Niko Price.
Following UFC 290, tune in for the post-fight press conference to stay on top of all the fallout from the night. A live stream is available in the embed above.
