Confirmed Fights

Main Card

The first confirmed title fight for UFC 290 is Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez. The Featherweight Champion Volkanovski will be looking to make the fifth consecutive title defense against the current Interim Featherweight Champion, Yair "El Pantera" Rodriguez. "El Pantera" captured the interim gold at UFC 284, defeating Josh Emmett via second-round submission. Volkanovski's last bout was also on the UFC 284 card, where he lost to Islam Makhachev via unanimous decision in a very competitive bout.

Yair Rodriguez and Max Holloway after their Fight of the Year contender in November 2021. Credits to: Israel Martinez - Twitter.

The other confirmed title bout for the card is Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja. UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon "The Assassin Baby" Moreno will continue his second title reign in the UFC. The Champion's last bout was a quadrilogy bout against Deiveson Figueiredo, where he would re-claim the title via third-round doctors stoppage. Alexandre Pantoja has already defeated Moreno twice but will now look to claim the title in their third bout. A three-fight win streak earned Pantoja his shot at UFC gold, defeating Manel Kape by decision and submitting Brandon Royval and Alex Perez in his previous bouts.

Former Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker will face off against rising contender Dricus du Plessis on the card as well. Dana White announced that the winner of this bout would face Israel Adesanya for the Middleweight Championship later this year. Whittaker is coming off a dominant decision victory over Marvin Vettori, and du Plessis is riding a five-fight win streak inside the UFC, with finishes over Derek Brunson and Darren Till in his last two bouts.

Robert Whittaker in his last bout vs. Marvin Vettori. Credits to: Haljestam - USA TODAY Sports.

Lightweight contenders Jalin Turner and Dan Hooker have also been rebooked to fight each other on this card. The pair were previously supposed to meet at UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane, but Hooker was forced out with an injury and replaced with Mateusz Gamrot, who won via split decision. The two are some of the best strikers in the division and will be looking for a big win to springboard into the top 10.

Huge prospect Bo Nickal will also make his return to the cage against TUF alumni Tresean Gore. Both fighters are coming off significant victories, with Nickal securing a first-round arm-triangle against Jamie Pickett. Gore gained his first UFC win with a nasty second-round guillotine against Josh Fremd.

Prelims

Another former Champion Robie Lawler will also return at UFC 290 after a one-year layoff against the always-entertaining Niko Price. Lawler was defeated via TKO in his last bout vs. Bryan Barberena and will look to get back into the win column against Price, who is coming off a TKO loss to Philip Rowe.

Welterweights Sean Brady and Jack Della Maddalena are booked for the card too. Brady will be looking to bounce back from his TKO defeat to Belal Muhammad, and Della Maddalena will look to continue his vicious knockout streak.

The other bouts booked for the card are as followed:

Women's Strawweight bout: Yazmin Jauregui vs. Denise Gomes

Light-Heavyweight bout: Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield

Light Heavyweight bout: Vitor Petrino vs. Marcin Prachnio

Bantamweight bout: Christian Rodriguez vs. Cameron Saaiman

Flyweight bout: Shannon Ross vs. Jesús Santos Aguilar

Featherweight bout: Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics

Rumored Bouts

Originally, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic was rumored to be the headliner for the main card. Jon "Bones" Jones returned after a three-year layoff at UFC 285, defeating Ciryl Gane to win the vacant Heavyweight Championship, and will look to make his first defense here. The bout was discussed by Dana White at the post-fight presser for 285, and both Jones and Miocic have verbally agreed to the bout. However, at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Allen, White announced that they were targeting the two for an event in the MSG Arena at a later date.

Cancelled Bouts

Top 10 Flyweights Deiveson Figueiredo and Manel Kape were supposed to face each other on the card. However, the bout was scrapped due to Figueiredo not being medically cleared by the doctors. It is still being determined if they will reschedule this bout or if Kape will receive a replacement fighter.

Betting Odds

All odds are provided via BestFightOdds.com, as of April 6, 3PM EST.

Alexander Volkanovski is a giant favorite at -430, the largest he's been since he started his title reign. On the other hand, Yair Rodriguez is the second biggest underdog of his career at +300; he was only larger when he was against Max Holloway.

Despite suffering two defeats to Alexandre Pantoja, Brandon Moreno is a moderate -190 favorite, with Pantoja coming in at +160. Their second bout had much closer odds, where Moreno entered as a +105 and Pantoja a -115. Their first fight does not contain odds as it was inside the TUF house.

Robert Whittaker is a massive favorite at -400 against Dricus du Plessis at +275. This marks the first time du Plessis has been an underdog in his entire UFC career.

Bo Nickal again enters as a massive favorite at -900, with Tresean Gore being his career largest underdog at +625.

Bo Nickal putting a tight squeeze on Jamie Pickett at UFC 285. Credits to: Jeff Bottari - Zuffa LLC.

We'll update this space as more fights are announced for this card. Which fight are you most excited about on the card? Who do you have winning these bouts? As a member of the Verdict Community, let us know your prediction and thoughts in the comments below.