Bruised-up Yair Rodriguez gracefully congratulates Alexander Volkanovski as he vows strong comeback

UFC featherweight Yair Rodriguez recently uploaded a message on social media after his championship fight against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 290.

'El Pantera' uploaded a video to his Instagram account, showing off his bruises. In the caption, he congratulated 'The Great' and his team in a graceful manner.

Rodriguez commended Volkanovski for his 'excellent' display of skills and vowed to bounce back stronger and make his supporters proud of him:

"I can only say that congratulations to Alex Volkanovski for an excellent performance and to his team as well. Nothing knocks us down, I said it before and I will continue saying it, resilience is something that is part of me as of all Mexicans and it is also for men to accept defeat when it knocks on our door. It is not the only opportunity I will have to make all of you who love and support me proud, many more will come! Long live Mexico, today and always!" Yair Rodriguez wrote. [via Google Translate]

Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez headlined the UFC 290 card, which took place during International Fight Week on July 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

'The Great' used his grappling prowess to score multiple takedowns against Rodriguez and then finished him via TKO in the third round. After UFC 290, Volkanovski now has five successful featherweight title defenses to his name.

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After defeating Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290, Alexander Volkanovski had a faceoff against another top contender

After successfully defending his belt against Yair Rodriguez, Alexander Volkanovski was making his way backstage when he came across another featherweight contender in the crowd - Ilia Topuria.

The two engaged in a cageside faceoff and exchanged words. During his appearance at the UFC 290 post-fight press conference, 'The Great' revealed the conversation that took place between the two athletes.

Volkanovski praised Topuria's fighting skills while expressing his wish to break 'El Matador's undefeated MMA record:

"I just told him, I go, 'Yeah, come on, jump over, let's do a little faceoff. Let's amp it up a little bit. See you soon.' I said to him, I go, 'Man, I thought you were a bit taller', because everyone's so much taller than me. I'm looking him eye-to-eye. I was about to say, 'I've got this 71-inch reach', which is a lie, but I should run with that. Again, no disrespect to the bloke. He is a good fighter, he's undefeated. Can't wait to take that zero."

Check out Alexander Volkanovski's comments on Ilia Topuria below (from the 14:30 mark):