Will VOLK Retain His Title?.. | Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez | UFC 290

In this video, I will break down the main event matchup for international fight week at UFC 290 in Las Vegas, between Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez. Volk has been on an absolute tear at 145 pounds. He remains the undisputed champion and no one has given him a run for money at that weight division. Max Holloway was the previous long-time champion in that weight class until Alexander Volkanovski beat him in 3 different meetings. He is currently on the quest to become the greatest of all time in the featherweight class and at the rate he's going, it doesn't look like he's far from it.

However, although Volk has had some impressive recent outings, he has yet to face someone who people believe can dethrone him as the champion. Yair Rodriguez is currently the UFC interim featherweight champion of the world who had a dominant victory in his last fight against Josh Emmett. He has a very different, unique, wild, and slick style in the UFC. This is a style that Volkanovski will most likely have never seen before and he probably won't see in any of his future fights. Yair Rodriguez's base is taekwondo which is a heavy kicking-focused art.

Alexander Volkanovski is the best champion in the UFC right now. If Jon Jones doesn't exist, Volk should be p4p the #1 fighter in the world right now. He is also arguably the best striker in the world as well. He has excellent skills and qualities that make him a dangerous fighter to strike against. There is very little weakness in his game when it comes to striking offense and defense. He can operate from his kicking and punching range very well. He can also do damage inside the clinch too. Overall, he is not too far from being considered a complete striker. Volk's striking prowess is evident but so is his wrestling as well. He can be offensive and defensive with his wrestling. He is one of the best well-rounded fighters in the UFC.

Yair Rodriguez has a lot of chaos in his fighting style. He has a wide range of kicks. These are not your typical Muay Thai kicks. These are ninja kicks that he throws with superb technique along with speed, power, and accuracy. Yair is able to catch his opponents with these kicks because they normally do not see them in fights or training. These kicks come from angles that you've never seen before. On top of that, Yair loves to add more damage to his dangerous kicks by following up with strikes. These combos that he loves to throw are also not your typical MMA combos. Most coaches would teach you to throw basic combos like a 1-2 or a 1-2-3. Yair looks to throw a 1-2, then a scissor knee, and then a spinning elbow. A majority of coaches would never advise you to throw these kind of combos, which is exactly why Yair lands these combos.

A different clash of styles for both men. Volk is the more technical and fundamentally sound striker, whereas Yair is the more unique and tricky striker. Volkanvski believes that Yair will be his toughest challenge to date, very different from his last matchup against Max Holloway. Yair Rodriguez believes that he has what it takes to bring another belt to his home country in Mexico. Who do you think will step out of that octagon victorious? Will Alexander Volkanovski continue to add to his title reign and continue to push his narrative to become the featherweight goat? Or will Yair Rodriguez do the impossible and pull off the upset? If there's anything we can learn so far in MMA, it's the fact that we cannot count out anybody until the final bell. Just take a look at how many new champions there are in the UFC in the past 20 months.

Thank you so much for reading what I have to say and have a lovely rest of your day peeps :)

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