The Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight
strap will be unified once again come July.
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International Fight Week for the UFC now has its first bout coming
together, although it has not yet been signed by the competitors.
At UFC 290
on July 8 inside of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Alexander
Volkanovski (25-2) will look to unify his 145-pound belt
against interim titleholder Yair
Rodriguez (15-3, 1 NC). The news was first reported on Thursday
by Ariel
Helwani, and it has since been confirmed by
other outlets. It has not yet been determined if that match
will headline the tentpole event.
Volkanovski saw his bid for a second strap fall to pieces when he
moved up to pieces to take on Islam
Makhachev. The Aussie fell short against the 155-pound king in
hopes of becoming a two-division champ. According to
Fox Sports Australia back in March, Volkanovski had been
pushing for an immediate rematch, but the promotion wanted him to
return to his former division to settle things first. As a
featherweight, “The Great” has never tasted defeat, with his only
two pro losses at 155 and 170 pounds. This includes a trio of
victories over Max
Holloway, as well as wins over Jose Aldo,
Brian
Ortega and several others as he paved his way towards all-time
greatness.
Winner of Season 1 of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America,”
Rodriguez has served as a top contender in the division for several
years now. Only losing to Frankie
Edgar and the aforementioned Holloway, “El Pantera” worked his
way up the ladder to finally claim gold in February. Tapping
Josh
Emmett with a triangle choke, Rodriguez put the featherweight
throne in dispute. While Volkanovski has picked up four post-fight
bonus checks through his UFC tenure, Rodriguez’ nine is tied for
the most in divisional history with Holloway and Cub
Swanson.