UFC president Dana White went Live on Instagram and YouTube to announce the biggest fight card of the year. International Fight Week takes place in July and will be headlined by a Featherweight title fight between defending champion Alexander Volkanovski (25-2) and Interim Champion Yair Rodriguez (16-3). Volkanovski recently challenged Islam Makachev for the UFC Lightweight title narrowly falling short at UFC 284. This opened up an opportunity for Rodriguez to capture the Interim title by submitting Josh Emmett earlier this year. The UFC 290 Co-main event will feature a Flyweight title fight involving Champion Brandon Moreno (21-6) and No.1 contender Alexandre Pantoja (25-5).
Moreno and Pantoja competed in 2018 when both were rising contenders. Pantoja was able to win that contest, which makes this a compelling rematch for the Flyweight belt. Also on the UFC 290 Main card, ranked Middleweight contenders Dricus Du Plessis (19-2) and former champion Robert Whittaker (25-6) go to battle with title implications on the line. Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya needs an opponent for later this year and has been going back and forth with Du Plessis through the media. If Whittaker beats Du Plessis it would set up a trilogy fight with Adesanya after their highly competitive title fight last year.
Entire International Fight Week Card:
(C) Alexander Vokanovski (25-2) vs (IC) Yair Rodriguez (16-3)
(C) Brandon Moreno (21-6) vs #1 Alexandre Pantoja (25-5)
#1 Robert Whittaker (25-6) vs #6 Dricus Du Plessis (19-2)
#10 Jalin Turner (13-6) vs #11 Dan Hooker (22-12)
Bo Nickal (4-0) vs Tresean Gore (5-2)
Robbie Lawler (29-16) vs Niko Price (15-6)
#9 Sean Brady (15-1) vs #13 Jack Della Maddalena (14-2)
Yazmin Jauregui (10-0) vs Denis Gomes (7-2)
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