A featherweight title unification bout between current champion Alexander Volkanovski and interim titleholder Yair Rodriguez is being targeted for the UFC 290 event during International Fight Week in Las Vegas on July 8th.
Volkanovski is of course well established as the dominant force at 145lbs, having had four successful title defenses so far since first winning the title with a unanimous decision victory over Max Holloway back in 2019.
Since then he’s beaten Holloway a further two times, while also beaten Brian Ortega and ‘The Korean Zombie’ too, which paved the way for him to pursue a new challenge last time out when he moved up a division for a superfight with new lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Volkanovski lost by unanimous decision back in February, yet his stock actually raised despite the defeat thanks to his impressive showing in that highly competitive fight, leaving the door open for a potential rematch between the two.
However, before that the UFC has deemed that Volkanovski has unfinished business at featherweight, where in his absence Rodriguez has gone on to win the interim title with a big submission win over Josh Emmett, having previously also TKO’d Brian Ortega.
Contracts haven’t been officially signed yet for the title clash, but it’s been confirmed to be in the works by multiple sources. At this stage it’s not clear if the fight would serve as the main event.
