Alexander Volkanovski defends his featherweight championship against Yair Rodriguez in the main event of UFC 290 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
The main card at T-Mobile Arena will be on ESPN+ pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. ET, with prelims on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. and early prelims on ESPN+ at 7 p.m.
There also will be a title up for grabs in the co-main event, in which Brandon Moreno defends his flyweight belt against Alexandre Pantoja.
The headliner of the night is Volkanovski (25-2), who is tied atop the ESPN pound-for-pound men's MMA rankings. He is coming off a loss to lightweight champ Islam Makhachev in February, Volkanovski's first defeat in 23 bouts, a run of success going back a decade.
Rodriguez (15-3, 1 NC) has only one loss in his last six fights. He won an interim championship in February with a second-round submission of Josh Emmett. Rodriguez is No. 3 in the ESPN men's featherweight rankings, behind only Volkanovski and former champ Max Holloway.
Moreno (21-6-2) is a two-time champ, regaining the title in January with a TKO of Deiveson Figueiredo. Moreno is No.9 in ESPN's pound-for-pound rankings.
Pantoja (25-5), No. 4 in the flyweight rankings, last fought a year ago, when he submitted Alex Perez in the first round for his third straight victory. Pantoja owns two victories over Moreno, although one of them is in the records as an exhibition because it came during a taping of "The Ultimate Fighter."
What are the storylines behind the top fights at UFC 290? How are experts breaking them down? What do the fighters have to say? Here is the fight card, how to watch it and a collection of all of the UFC 290 essentials.
UFC 290 fight card
ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET
Men's featherweight: Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Yair Rodriguez (ic)
Men's flyweight: Brandon Moreno (c) vs. Alexandre Pantoja
Middleweight: Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Lightweight: Jalin Turner vs. Dan Hooker
Middleweight: Bo Nickal vs. Val Woodburn
ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler vs. Niko Price
Strawweight: Yazmin Jauregui vs. Denise Gomes
Catchweight (130 pounds): Edgar Chairez vs Tatsuro Taira
Light heavyweight: Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield
ESPN/ESPN+, 7 p.m.
Light heavyweight: Vitor Petrino vs. Marcin Prachnio
Men's bantamweight: Cameron Saaiman vs. Terrence Mitchell
Men's flyweight: Shannon Ross vs. Jesus Aguilar
Lightweight: Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics
(c) = defending champion | (ic) interim champion
UFC 290 expert picks and best bets: Insiders split on Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja
Brett Okamoto spoke to ESPN MMA analyst Din Thomas to get his perspective on the main and co-main events. ESPN's betting experts Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker add their insights and analysis for the main event and other intriguing bets they like on the card.
Why the top three fights on the card could shake up the rest of 2023 for the UFC
Former UFC women's featherweight title challenger and current ESPN MMA analyst Megan Anderson highlights the top storylines to watch during the action this weekend
One of them:
If Volkanovski can conquer Rodriguez, what does he do next? A rematch with Islam Makhachev? Or a fight with rising featherweight contender Ilia Topuria?
But if Rodriguez is able to pull off the upset, things get interesting at featherweight. Considering how dominant Volkanovski has been in the division, I would imagine he'd get an immediate rematch if he loses. But if the fight isn't competitive, like Rodriguez wins by knockout in the early rounds, more options will open up. Rodriguez hasn't fought many top opponents in the division yet. Plus there are some interesting rematches out there for him.
'This movement is magical' -- Inside Mexico's rise as the next MMA superpower
Yair Rodrigiuez and Brandon Moreno stood barefoot on the mat, each with one arm around the other. Their sweaty, wet hair stuck to their baby faces and the wrinkled Brazilian jiu-jitsu gis they wore hung from their shoulders haphazardly.
Moreno posted the grainy photo on Instagram two years ago. It looked like the image of a bygone era. And in many ways, it was.
In 2013, Rodriguez was the youngest fighter accepted to a UFC-sponsored MMA developmental program for Latin American fighters at Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A few months later, Moreno joined the program, usurping the just-turned-21-year-old Rodriguez as the youngest athlete there at age 20. It was the first time the two, barely out of their teens, had ever been away from their families in Mexico.
UFC title matchup projections: What does our model think of Volkanovski-Rodriguez and Jones-Miocic?
Now that Amanda Nunes has retired following her impressive win at UFC 289, Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker look ahead at six future title fights that are scheduled this summer, including Alexander Volkanovski taking on Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290. Kuhn provides the model projections for each fight, while Parker details the betting perspective.
Brandon Moreno to face old rival Alexandre Pantoja
Brandon Moreno will look to avenge two previous losses at UFC 290.
The two-time, reigning UFC flyweight champion will defend his title against old rival Alexandre Pantoja, who owns two victories over Moreno prior to Moreno becoming UFC champion. One was in an exhibition on "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show in 2016, a submission win. The other was a pro fight and unanimous decision triumph in 2018.