UFC 290 USADA sample count: How many times have Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez been tested so far?

UFC 290 will headline the promotion's annual International Fight Week festivities and the main event fighters' USADA tests has been a topic of discussion. Not every fighter is tested the same number of times and Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez's recent testing statistics prove that.

Jed I. Goodman tweeted a comparison for the number of occassions both fighters have been tested since 2016, which had a surprising result. According to the updated numbers, Rodriguez has been tested more than Volkanovski between 2016 and June 29 of this year.

'Pantera's test numbers are listed at 53 total samples, while 'Volk' is listed at 44 total samples. Despite the30-year-old having more overall tests, the detailed stats indicate that the reigning featherweight champion has in fact been tested more frequently.

Last year was a massive discrepancy as 'Volk' was tested and had a total of 22 submitted samples. Meanwhile, Rodriguez was only tested on 10 occasions. However, their 2023 numbers are both in line with each other as Volkanovski has been tested 4 times and 'Pantera' has been tested 7 times.

It's understandable why the reigning featherweight champion has been tested more often, especially considering that he has competed in more title fights than the interim champion. It will be interesting to see who will win the unification bout and whether Rodriguez can dethrone Volkanovski at UFC 290.

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Yair Rodriguez confident that his style will be too difficult for Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 290

Yair Rodriguez is full of confidence ahead of his featherweight title unification bout with Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 290.

During his pre-fight media availability, the interim featherweight champion noted that he believes he is capable of defeating 'Volk' and handing him his first loss at 145lbs his unique fighting style will pose a threat to 'Volk' and doesn't believe that he will have an answer for it.

He said:

"I just think this game is about styles, you know, what style beats what style, or one guy has the best day if you wanna cut it that way, the day of the fight. I just think it's gonna be real difficult for him to beat me. He probably thinks it's gonna be easier, I don't know. My style is completely different to what many people think. Not only what you can see from outside."