Everything you need to know about UFC 290: Volkanovski Vs. Rodríguez

ACC UFC contributor Felix Heath-Collins with everything you need to know ahead of UFC 290: Volkanovski Vs. Rodríguez.

UFC 290 is finally here! This absolutely loaded PPV (Pay-Per-View) features some of the greatest mixed martial artists from Australia and New Zealand.

The main event sees Australia's own featherweight champion Alexander "The Great" Volkanovski (25-2) (wins-losses) defend his belt against the explosive kickboxer Yair "El Pantera" Rodríguez (16-3).

Alex Volkanovski is the current face of Australian combat sports, and stands among legends Mark "The Super Samoan" Hunt, Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya, and John Wayne "The Gunslinger" Parr as one of the greatest fighters Oceania has ever produced. His style is the perfect blend of pressure-forward striking, dominant grappling, and - most importantly - a near-infinite gas tank. Volkanovski was initially overlooked due to his jack-of-all-trades style. Fight fans are simple, and we tend to favour specialists over generalists. But, just like Frankie "The Answer" Edgar and Georges "GSP" St. Piere proved before him, the generalist is a terrifying challenge. Facing a striking specialist? Attack the grappling. Facing a grappling specialist? Attack the striking. Facing a generalist? Just pray to god their stamina runs out before yours. Volkanovski parlayed his impressive MMA game into a series of wins over featherweight greats Jose Aldo "Junior", Max "Blessed" Holloway, Brian "T-City" Ortega, and "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung. Along the way, he took the featherweight title from the former divisional great Max Holloway, and proceeded to defend it four consecutive times. In his last fight, Volkanovski challenged the lightweight champion Islam Makachev to become a double champion. While he held his own, Volkanovski lost this fight via unanimous decision, and now returns to his division to defend the belt for a fifth time.

Yair Rodríguez is the pinnacle of entertainment. Chuck this Mexican master of striking in there with anybody and you have an unmissable fight. His strikes are fluid, fast, and absolutely devastating. In the UFC Rodriguez has won via decision, head kick, punches, triangle choke, and with one career-defining elbow against "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung. In their classic fight, Jung was a single second away from claiming a decision victory when Rodriguez ducked an advancing punch from Jung before throwing a devastating up-elbow which landed directly on Jung's chin, and instantly knocked him out. Rodriguez is a veritable assassin in the cage, and has proven he can carry fight-ending power into the last second of the fifth and final championship round.

In this fight, I see Volanovski's pressure and pace slowly sapping Rodriguez's energy until Volanovski either hurts Rodríguez on the feet or on the floor. I have Volkanovski winning this fight via third-round TKO.

The other absolutely unmissable fight on this card is Jalin "The Tarantula" Turner (13-6) and Auckland's Dan "The Hangman" Hooker (22-12).

Jalin Turner is among the scariest contenders in the lightweight division. His long limbs and ensnaring Jiu-Jitsu are beautifully encapsulated by his nickname - "The Tarantula". Turner leveraged these invaluable attributes into an impressive UFC career that has seen him finish each of his wins via submission or KO/TKO. His UFC wins have come via punches, ground and pound, rear naked choke, right hook to ground strikes, and mounted guillotine choke. Most significant was the submission victory over Dan Hooker's own teammate Brad "Quake" Riddell.

Dan Hooker has represented New Zealand at the highest level of MMA since 2014 - a decade next year! In that time, Hooker has built up an impressive resume of victories including stoppages of Ross Pearson (knee), Marc Diakiese (guillotine choke), Jim Miller (knee), Gilbert Burns (punches), James Vick (left hook to ground and pound), and, in his last fight, Claudio Puelles (body kick). Israel Adesanya is the best Kiwi fighter, and Kai Kara-France is my favourite - but Dan Hooker is easily the most entertaining. His dynamic striking is mesmerizingly, and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is lethal. Combine them both and you see why Dan hasn't had a dull fight yet.

In this fight, I see a brawl developing between Turner and Hooker. In the chaos of the battle, either fighter has a chance to catch the other's neck in a guillotine choke, while Turner would be the favourite to win via submission. I have Hooker dragging the fight into a war of attrition, before he finishes it via KO in the third round.

Also featured on this fight card is the flyweight championship co-main event between the pride of Mexico Brandon "The Assassin Baby" Moreno and Brazilian monster Alexandre "The Cannibal" Pantoja, and the middleweight battle between Aussie fan-favourite former champ Robert "The Reaper" Whittaker and South African contender Dicus "Stillknocks" Du Plessis.

With all these incredible match-ups and more UFC 290 could be one of the best fight cards of the year. The action goes down this Sunday for us here in New Zealand, with the main card starting at 2:00 PM, and the earliest prelims beginning a few hours earlier at 10:00 AM. Enjoy! Because I sure will.