Alexander Volkanovski has defended his UFC featherweight championship for a fifth consecutive time and pushed his case as the greatest ever in the division with a TKO victory over Mexican and interim champion Yair Rodriguez at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
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Volkanovski caught Rodriguez with a right hook square on the chin early in the third round before unleashing a flurry of punches on his opponent.
Rodriguez was then caught against the cage and dumped to the ground before Volkanovski pounded him through his guard and referee Herb Dean intervened to stop the fight.
It backed up a dominant opening two rounds where Rodriguez was hunted around the ring and given limited space to unleash his deadly kicks. Volkanovski suffocated the Mexican with takedowns and ground control.
He now trails only former champion Jose Aldo's seven on the score of featherweight title defences and has been undefeated in the featherweight division for almost seven years.
"I'm the champ. I'm the king of this division. No one was ever stopping me," Volkanovski said following the fight.
The Australian has dominated the featherweight scene since beating former champion Max Holloway for the first time in December 2019.
His 11th straight win in the division places Volkanovski ahead of Aldo for the fourth-most in 145-pound history - but with a more dominant 26-2-0 record than the three above him - while his winning streak sits behind only Holloway's 13 in the division's history.
The bout in Las Vegas was his first fight since a loss by unanimous decision to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in February. That ended Volkanovski's 22-fight winning streak, while Rodriguez became interim-champion the same night with a win over Josh Emmett.
In the co-main event, Brazilian Alexandre Pantoja upset Mexican Brandon Moreno to be crowned new UFC flyweight champion via split decision in a bout that went the full five rounds.
Earlier, Australia's former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was upset by South African Dricus Du Plessis via TKO in a fight to become No.1 contender to face champion Israel Adesanya.
Whittaker, in his first bout in nearly 12 months, was split open by an elbow in round one and stunned by a straight right in round two, with the South African teeing off on the fence before the referee stopped the fight.
Du Plessis extended his longest active win streak in the division to six and traded verbal barbs inside the octagon with Adesanya following the fight.
New Zealander Dan Hooker won via split decision in his lightweight bout against American Jalin Turner in a brutal three rounds.
The Kiwi survived a strong high kick from Turner that cut him open mid-way through the second round before the bell saved his opponent from a rear-naked choke.
Hooker battered Turner in the third and kept him on the mat prior to the final bell ringing.
In the undercards, Australian Jimmy Crute lost via guillotine submission to Alonzo Menifield.
Menifield thwarted Crute's attempted take down in round two and got under his neck, with the Aussie tapping out nearly instantly.
The fastest fight of UFC290 went to Brazilian Denis Gomes who won via TKO against Yazmin Jauregui in 20 seconds.
Australian Associated Press
