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As the centrepiece of International Fight Week, UFC 290 was always built as one of 2023’s biggest shows, and boy did it deliver.
With some of the most memorable finishes and fights in recent memory, UFC 290 was undoubtedly one of this year’s most outstanding events.
So with a major title change and some other crazy bouts, who won big at last night’s blockbuster event?
Here are the five biggest winners from UFC 290: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez.
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#5 Bo Nickal – defeated Val Woodburn in a UFC middleweight bout
Standout amateur wrestler Bo Nickal came into last night’s event as the biggest betting favourite in UFC history. That was hardly a surprise given that he was up against a debutant in Val Woodburn, following the withdrawal of his initial opponent Tresean Gore earlier this week.
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However, there was still a lot of pressure on ‘The Allen Assassin’. Sure, he had far more hype around him than Woodburn, but he also had a lot less experience.
Had Nickal struggled to beat the newcomer, or simply wrestled him for a three-round decision, a lot of the noise surrounding him could well have evaporated.
Instead, the former NCAA Division I National Champion simply evaporated Woodburn instead, destroying him with punches in just 38 seconds.
Sure, Nickal won’t enter the top-10 at 185lbs with this win, but it was still wildly impressive. Also, the fact that he took such little time means he should be able to fight again soon.
If he can win twice more before 2023 is out, he won’t just be a big winner from last night’s show, he’ll be one of the biggest winners of the year overall.
#4 Robbie Lawler – defeated Niko Price in a UFC welterweight bout
In the world of the UFC, retirements rarely go to plan. Often, they come after a fighter suffers a devastating loss, and can sometimes seem like a snap decision.
Even when they’re more planned, with the fighter announcing it prior to a bout, said fighter rarely goes onto actually win. After all, the UFC throws no softballs, and tends to like to make a new star off the back of an old one.
This weekend saw the exception to that rule, though, in the form of former welterweight champ Robbie Lawler.
‘Ruthless’ had won just once since 2017 coming into his bout with Niko Price, and that win had come over the equally past-his-prime Nick Diaz.
The chances of him ending his legendary career on a high, then, seemed slim. Remarkably, though, Lawler proved everyone wrong.
The former champion quickly worked into close quarters, where he blasted ‘The Hybrid’ with a quick series of hooks and uppercuts that turned his lights off, all in just 38 seconds.
Incredibly, the win was Lawler’s 30th in MMA and also stood as his fastest-ever finish. Post-fight, the crowd basically gave ‘Ruthless’ a standing ovation as he left the octagon in tears.
Were this event being produced by Hollywood, they probably couldn’t have written a better ending for the former champ, making him a huge winner on the night.
#3 Alexander Volkanovski – defeated Yair Rodriguez to retain the UFC featherweight title
The headline bout last night saw Alexander Volkanovski retain his UFC featherweight title for the fifth time when he stopped interim champion Yair Rodriguez in the third round.
Realistically, the only reason he isn’t ranked at the top of this list is because most people expected him to do exactly what he did last night. A couple of the other winners were a little more surprising.
It’s hard to talk down the performance of ‘Alexander the Great’, though. Not only did he recover from his first octagon loss to Islam Makhachev in style, but he also had few issues in dealing with the unpredictable Mexican.
‘El Pantera’ tried his best, but his explosive kicking game was no match for Volkanovski’s takedowns and ground-and-pound. In the third round, when the Australian stunned his foe with a right hook, the end didn’t take long to come.
What’s next for Volkanovski? It appears to be a fight with Ilia Topuria, but the truth is, it’d be hard to favour any 145lber against him. He still hasn’t lost in the division, and now holds 11 wins there in the UFC alone. Put simply, he’s the greatest featherweight of all time.
#2 Dricus du Plessis – defeated Robert Whittaker in a UFC middleweight bout
In terms of where his victory last night could lead him in the future, it’s arguable that last night’s biggest winner was Dricus du Plessis.
Faced with former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a de facto title eliminator, most fans were counting the South African star out.
After all, Whittaker had only ever lost to one man – current champ Israel Adesanya – since moving to 185lbs in 2014, and had beaten basically every other top middleweight in the UFC.
Remarkably, though, ‘Stillknocks’ produced the performance of a lifetime to take ‘The Reaper’ out, cementing himself as the top contender for Adesanya’s crown in the process.
He took Whittaker down in the first round, sliced him open with an elbow, and then stunned him with a right in the second before swarming him for a truly stunning TKO.
Sure, the ugly staredown between him and ‘The Last Stylebender’ after the fight wasn’t great, largely because of the horrible language used by Adesanya. However, that wasn’t du Plessis’ fault, and it definitely hyped up their future clash.
Can the South African really dethrone Adesanya? That remains to be seen, but based on what he’s achieved thus far, anything is possible for him. If nothing else, nobody will ever underestimate him again.
#1 Alexandre Pantoja – defeated Brandon Moreno to win the UFC flyweight title
It’s almost certainly fair to say that the biggest winner at UFC 290 was Alexandre Pantoja. The Brazilian became a first-time flyweight champion by dethroning Brandon Moreno in a true thriller, and probably turned himself into a star in the process.
Coming in, there were plenty of fans who thought ‘The Cannibal’ had the number of his Hawaiian rival, as he’d defeated him twice previously, once in 2016 and once in 2018.
Sure enough, while the fight was far closer this time – going to a split decision – the result remained the same. In the end, Pantoja did enough to edge out at least three, if not four of the rounds, making him the clear-cut victory.
More importantly, his post-fight speech, which paid tribute to his single mother and ended with him asking his father if he was proud of him now, was a truly emotional moment.
Where does ‘The Cannibal’ go from here? Probably into another bout with Moreno, but realistically, it would appear that he has the Mexican’s number. With that in mind, his title reign could last for a while yet – making him the night’s biggest winner.
