UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez – Betting Preview

Headlining during International Fight Week for the second time in his gold-laden Octagon tenure, Alexander Volkanovski is once again closing as a heavy betting favorite to retain his status as king of the featherweights, ahead of his UFC 290 main event slot against interim gold holder, Yair Rodríguez.

Volkanovski, a featherweight champion to boot, saw his promotional-perfect tenure come to an end at UFC 284 back in February, suffering a unanimous decision loss to lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev in Perth, Australia. 

Earlier on that same card, Mexican striking ace, Rodríguez landed the interim featherweight championship win – stopping recent UFC Jacksonville main event feature, Josh Emmett with an impressive second round triangle choke submission victory. 

So far boasting a perfect run at the featherweight limit since beginning his Octagon tenure, Volkanovski – who searches for his fifth successful title defense this weekend, is fast closing as a -400 betting favorite over on Betway to defeat the +300 betting underdog, Rodríguez at the T-Mobile Arena. 

In four prior successful title defenses at 145 pounds, New South Wales native, Volkanovski has turned in subsequent rematch and trilogy bout title wins against former champion, Max Holloway – as well as toppling both common-foes, Brian Ortega, and in rather dominant fashion – Chan Sung Jung during his time as undisputed gold holder.

Also featuring on the star-studded pay-per-view main card, undisputed flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno is slated to attempt his first title defense since unifying the crowns against Deivson Figueiredo back in January on enemy territory at UFC 283 in Brazil.

However, the Tijuana native faces a steep challenge, attempting to avenge both exhibition and professional losses to the surging Brazilian contender, Alexandre Pantoja.

Successfully unifying flyweight spoils in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of the year, Moreno had suffered a submission off loss to Pantoja on The Ultimate Fighter – before then finding himself on the receiving end of a unanimous decision loss in a UFC Fight Night Chile meeting.

And despite suffering a pair of prior losses to Pantoja, Moreno is closing rapidly as an impressive -200 betting favorite to defeat the former and emerge from ‘Sin City’ with championship spoils in tow. In the midst of an impressive run, Pantoja is currently sitting as a +160 betting underdog. 

Another important clash takes place on the main card to boot, with former undisputed middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker returning in an officially billed title eliminator against promotional-perfect South African contender, Dricus du Plessis.

With the victor expected to take on champion, Israel Adesanya with a victory, ex-titleholder, Whittaker is closing as a -400 betting favorite to defeat du Plessis – with the latter coming in as a +300 betting underdog to defeat Whittaker at UFC 290. 

Closing as the biggest betting favorite in the history of the UFC, uber-prospect, Bo Nickal has received a shake-up in opponent ahead of the main card outing – with Val Woodburn replacing TUF veteran, Treasan Gore.

Grappling ace, Nickal can be backed as high as a whopping -2,200 to defeat promotional newcomer Woodburn at UFC 290 this weekend, with the latter closing as a +1,200 betting underdog.