After his lightweight loss to Islam Makhachev, Alexander Volkanovski returned to the featherweight division last Saturday to defend his title for the fifth time. This time, he faced an absolute kickboxing machine in Yair Rodriguez. Fans were already hyped before both fights—and they weren't disappointed.

After Bruce Buffer's introduction, the fight began. The first two rounds were dominated by takedowns from the champion. Volk was able to bring the Mexican down six times and unleashed a fierce ground-and-pound attack. Rodriguez's coaches had to work hard after just ten minutes to heal the cuts on Yair's face. In the third round, the Mexican managed to use his weapons properly for the first time. But after spectacular question mark and roundhouse kicks, the champion countered with a thunderous right, followed by a powerful takedown. Hammerfists followed, forcing Herb Dean to end the fight early at the end of round three.

Once again, Volkanovski proved too strong for the opponents in his weight class. Overall, Rodriguez, with his spectacular fighting style, never managed to seriously draw Volkanovski out of his comfort zone. The Australian landed three times as many strikes and had over seven minutes of ground control time. So, it remains true: Volkanovski is the undisputed benchmark in the featherweight division.