It's International Fight Week in Las Vegas.

So with "going home" not an option, the mandate for the UFC was clear:

Go big.

Dana White's MMA colossus did so and then some, responding with a 13-bout card that included a five-bout pay-per-view portion—branded as UFC 290—featuring a pair of championship fights and a de facto eliminator for a title shot in a third weight class.

Alexander Volkanovki and Brandon Moreno were in the roles of belt-risking champions at featherweight and flyweight, respectively, defending against interim champion Yair Rodriguez in Volkanovski's case and two-time conqueror Alexandre Pantoja in Moreno's.

Volkanovski was dominant on the way to stopping Rodriguez in three rounds, and Pantoja made it three straight wins over Moreno and took the 125-pound belt with a split decision.

The B/R combat team was in position to take in the action from T-Mobile Arena and compiled a definitive list of the show's real-time winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments section.

Winner: Reclaiming Dominance

This just in: Alexander Volkanovski is awfully good.

The featherweight king defended his crown for the fifth time and remained unbeaten in his UFC career at 145 pounds with a comprehensively dominant third-round stoppage of interim claimant Yair Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was awarded the second-tier belt after a victory against Josh Emmett on the same UFC 284 card in February that Volkanovski moved to 155 pounds to challenge champion Islam Makhachev.

Volkanovski lost that fight by a narrow unanimous decision, but the level to which he pushed a heavier champion and pound-for-pound leader illustrated just how far ahead he is over the rank and file in a featherweight division where he's now won six title fights and gone 13-0 in the UFC.

"Everyone that knows this game knows how dangerous he was, and I put that in my head to prepare properly," he said. "I'm the champ. I'm the king of this division. No one's ever stopping me."

Though noticeably shorter and perceived as less dynamic than his Mexican-born, California-based foe, Volkanovski was successful with constant pressure that saw him take Rodriguez to the mat three times in each of the first two rounds.

Rodriguez found his most prolonged stretch of success in the third round with kicks and work from the outside, but he was hit and hurt badly by a right hand that drove him backward to the fence.

Volkanovski immediately pounced, scored well with punches, and secured his final takedown before a final barrage of ground strikes that brought a rescue from referee Herb Dean at 4:19 of the third.

In the aftermath, he suggested another run at 155 pounds is possible, or a defense against another streaking featherweight, Ilia Topuria. He and Topuria briefly exchanged words at cageside after the fight but ended the meeting with a handshake.

"I've shown I can wrestle," Volkanovski said. "I've shown I can grapple. I've shown I can strike with the best of them."

Winner: Prolonging a Series

Brandon Moreno just finished a four-part series—a quadrilogy—with Deiveson Figueiredo.

And now it looks like the on-again, off-again flyweight champ is due for another.

Already a two-time loser against Alexandre Pantoja in a rivalry last renewed five years ago, Moreno found himself on the short end of a split decision after an epic five-rounder that seems sure to get prominent mention when Fight of the Year votes are cast six months from now.

One judge gave Moreno a 49-46 verdict, awarding him rounds two through five, while the other two judges gave it to Pantoja by a 48-47 margin, giving him rounds one, three and five.

B/R had it 49-46 in the direction of the new champion, giving him the first, third, fourth and fifth.

"I worked so hard for that," Pantoja said. "I didn't expect a tough guy like that tonight. In the first round I thought Moreno was done. But he kept coming back. I've been through everything in my life. I left everything that I had. I always had respect for Moreno. Now it's my moment. I want to enjoy it."

Moreno lost by decisions in his two previous fights with Pantoja and was released from the UFC after the second, but returned and began his series with Figueiredo with a draw in December 2020.

He finished the Brazilian in three rounds in June 2021, lost a decision to him in January 2022, and wrapped up with a TKO win at UFC 283 in January.

Saturday's result was his first loss to someone other than Figueiredo since Pantoja beat him.

Moreno and Pantoja engaged in a perpetual back and forth, with the challenger scoring a knockdown with a hard left in the first, Moreno appearing faster and stronger and succeeding on the ground in the second. Pantoja got the fight to the ground in the third and chased submissions via rear-naked choke and arm triangle, but Moreno again survived and scored well with elbows in the fourth.

Pantoja controlled most of the fifth after scoring his sixth takedown of the fight and running his overall ground control time to 4:18, compared to Moreno's 2:24 in control and 117-111 edge in significant strikes.

"They'll be talking about that fight for years," ESPN's Jon Anik said.

Winner: Creating a Rivalry

Israel Adesanya has himself a legit title challenger.

The two-time middleweight champ has run roughshod through the 185-pound ranks across two title reigns, beating most of the top contenders convincingly and handling some of them twice.

But he's never fought Dricus Du Plessis. And now he's going to have to.

Du Plessis staked his claim for a championship bout with an impressive second-round stoppage of former champion and two-time Adesanya victim Robert Whittaker and was crediting Whittaker for his courage and gentlemanly conduct when he turned to see Adesanya had entered the cage.

The two had developed a rivalry from a distance thanks to back-and-forth remarks about Du Plessis being a true African fighter—he's from and is based in South Africa, while Adesanya is from Nigeria but now lives in New Zealand—and they went nose to nose with security standing by to prevent a possible fracas.

"I'm African," Du Plessis told Adesanya, "but I ain't no brother of yours."

The run-in seems a logical prelude to UFC 293, which is scheduled for September in Sydney, Australia.

Du Plessis was ranked fifth in the division to Whittaker's second. Former champ Alex Pereira is ranked first but will fight at light heavyweight later this month.

The No. 3 and 4 contenders, Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori, fought one another in June and are a combined 0-3 against Adesanya.

"I just beat a guy in the pound-for-pound rankings," Du Plessis said. "You're going to have to delete a whole lot of comments because I'm coming for that social media."

Winner: Prolonging a Career

Dan Hooker was having to answer the questions.

Following three losses in five fights prior to Saturday's main card date with Jalin Turner—all by first-round finishes—the 33-year-old was hearing louder and louder whispers about retirement plans.

And when he was on the receiving end of a hellacious second-round head kick and a follow-up flurry of hands and elbows from Turner, it seemed the conversations wouldn't be ending anytime soon.

But that's when the blond-haired lightweight, whose bright mane was streaked red from gashes near the eye and on the forehead, staked a claim for continued future success.

The UFC's 12th-ranked 155-pounder managed to survive the storm and began issuing damaging replies by the end of the round, sending Turner wobbling around the cage with a left hand and ultimately chasing a submission with a quick-strike rear-naked choke in the final 15 seconds.

They traded blows back and forth across the final five minutes as well, but Hooker ultimately ran up a 43-32 edge in significant strikes in the round that allowed him to secure a split-decision victory in which two judges saw him a 29-28 winner while a third gave it to Turner by the same margin.

"He's a tough kid. I respect him a lot," Hooker said. "I'm so appreciative of the support of those who've hung behind me. Tough times don't last, Dan Hooker does."

Winner: Changing the Approach

Big Ten champion. NCAA champion.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Who needs wrestling?

Decorated Penn State mat wizard Bo Nickal arrived to his main-card opener against late sub Val Woodburn with all the chops needed to take him to the ground and grind him to mulch.

But after he left Woodburn wobbly legged with the first serious right hand he threw, it was pretty apparent a horizontal game wouldn't be necessary.

Nickal followed the right with two more lefts that dumped Woodburn to his backside, allowing Nickal to swoop in with a final ground shot that prompted referee Chris Tognoni to intervene at 38 seconds, making it the show's fourth sub-1:00 finish, a promotional record.

The loss was Woodburn's first after he'd gone 7-0 in smaller promotions since 2020.

It was Nickal's fifth straight win as a pro and second in the UFC this year, both inside of one round, since he graduated from Dana White's Contender Series in 2022.

Still, as for what's next, he wasn't so concerned with fiery callouts.

"At this point I don't really care," he said. "I'll take them all out, so it doesn't matter. I'm gonna go home and get my bow ready for elk season in September."

Winner: A Fitting Farewell

The moment was clearly making an impact.

Former welterweight champ Robbie Lawler sent his career off in style with a 38-second KO of Niko Price, then stood stoically in the middle of the Octagon as Bruce Buffer and Joe Rogan swooped in for hugs and ESPN analysts Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier battled to find the perfect words.

But once an in-arena highlight package of the 41-year-old's career highlights began, he cracked.

Lawler's lip began quivering as the package began and he'd retreated to full-on gratitude and reflection as the T-Mobile Arena crowd signaled its approval.

"It's amazing," he said. "I've had a long career. Without them none of this is possible."

For a guy whose week began with his UFC 189 showdown with Rory MacDonald being inducted into the promotion's Hall of Fame, the Saturday finish that came with a right hand followed by four straight left hands—hooks and uppercuts—that left Price flat on his back could hardly have been more apt.

"There are no fairy tales in fighting, but Robbie Lawler just delivered one right now," Cormier said. "Champions go out on their backs, that's just the way it ends. Robbie Lawler got the chance to go out with his hands up."

It was just his third win in eight fights since a 2016 loss to Tyron Woodley cost him the 170-pound belt that he'd won in 2014 and defended twice. His most recent victory had come with a third-round KO of fellow veteran Nick Diaz at UFC 266 in September 2021 and it was followed with a second-round loss to Bryan Barberena at UFC 276 last July.

"It was a hard training camp and today was the first day I felt good," Lawler said, "so I thought 'OK, I'm gonna do something good.' I was landing good shots in some good places. It was just too much."

Lawler finishes 11-7 in the UFC and 30-16-1 overall.

"You can't draw it up any better," Anik said.

Loser: American Preeminence

If at first you don't succeed, try again at least once.

That's all it took for light heavyweight Alonzo Menifield, who shook off a draw with 14th-ranked contender Jimmy Crute in February and handled his Australian foe in the rematch, submitting the 27-year-old with a spontaneous guillotine choke at 1:55 of the second round.

It was the lone win for three Americans fighting international foes on the prelim card after Kamuela Kirk lost a decision to Esteban Ribovics and Terrence Mitchell was TKO'd by Cameron Saaiman. Aussies Crute and Shannon Ross were beaten on the undercard of countryman Volkanovski's title defense.

Crute was a two-point winner on one scorecard when he and Menifield met at UFC 284 in Australia, but the bout was declared even when the other two judges saw it 28-28, thanks to a one-point deduction to Menifield for grabbing the cage.

Neither had fought in the intervening five months and they got right back to back-and-forth action in Saturday's opening round, before the second round opened and Crute went for a takedown by changing levels and seizing Menifield's right leg.

Menifield cinched his left arm around Crute's neck during the attempt, though, and locked the hold in tightly enough as they tumbled to the ground to draw a submission from Crute for just the second time in his four career losses.

It was Menifield's third submission win and first since 2021.

"I made up for (the draw) tonight," Menifield said. "We've been working (The guillotine) this whole camp, and I was able to get it."

Winner: Unbeaten Prelim Chalk

The folks who set the lines tend to know what they're doing.

So there was clearly a reason Cameron Saaiman reached the cage at a -585 betting favorite according to DraftKings, which made him the second-biggest favorite among the card's two preliminary segments.

The fresh-faced 22-year-old was forced to do some mat scrambling early in his bantamweight bout with UFC newbie Terrence Mitchell, but eventually got his lanky 5'10" flattened on his stomach and rained down with left-hand strikes until referee Mark Smith intervened at 3:10 of the opening round.

The win was his ninth straight as a pro and third in the UFC since a winning effort on Dana White's Contender Series last summer.

"The energy here is unreal. We had a lot of adversity and I'm so glad we could get it done," Saaiman said. "The grappling and stand-up will be on full display on bigger stages as we move forward."

Another of the four unbeaten fighters on the prelim show, Japanese flyweight Tatsuro Taira, who is 13-0 as a pro, went off as a prelim-best -975 favorite in a 130-pound catchweight bout against Edgar Chairez and won a unanimous decision with three 29-27 scorecards.

Strawweight Yazmin Jauregui was 10-0 but was stopped in 20 seconds by opponent Denise Gomes.

Light heavyweight Vitor Petrino improved to 9-0, scored his seventh finish and his first submission in the early prelim finale with a head-and-arm choke over Polish veteran Marcin Prachnio.

"I've always said that I want to be a complete fighter in the UFC," Petrino said. "I've always told you, give me the money and I'll put on a show."

Winner: Making One-Punch Memories

If you're fighting in a half-empty arena, do something to make the fans there remember you.

Jesus Aguilar did it. And then some.

The 27-year-old Mexican flyweight etched his name in the UFC record books, scoring the division's second-fastest all-time KO with a classic one-shot erasure of Shannon Ross.

It was just the second fight on the card and came well before 4 p.m. local time so many of the seats at T-Mobile Arena were unfilled when Aguilar faked a left jab, lurched forward with a would-be level change, and connected on an overhand right that landed flush on his foe's unprotected jaw.

Ross immediately stiffened and tumbled backward to the floor where his head crashed into the mat and prompted an immediate, academic wave-off from referee Jason Herzog, sending Aguilar zooming around the ring shrieking with delight and calling for a performance bonus from Dana White at cageside.

The official time was 17 seconds.

"It's so incredible. It's the best moment of my life," said Aguilar, who'd been submitted in one round in his UFC debut in February. "Last time I came out crying. This time it's just happiness. We work this in camp all the time. The combos."

Loser: Della Maddalena Momentum

Neither a strike was landed, nor a takedown executed on Jack Della Maddalena.

But it's hard to imagine someone losing more than the Aussie welterweight did on Saturday.

The streaking 26-year-old had earned 14 straight wins—including four in the UFC, all by first-round finishes—prior to making the lineup for the Las Vegas extravaganza against Sean Brady.

Brady had won 15 in a row of his own before falling to Belal Muhammad at UFC 280 last October and was coming to the Nevada as the No. 8 contender at 170 pounds to restart momentum against a man slotted six spots beneath him in the latest rankings.

The match was scratched eight days out, however, when Brady sustained a left elbow injury and was replaced a few days later by regional newcomer Josiah Harrell.

The 24-year-old's turn in the spotlight was short-lived, though, as a routine pre-fight MRI revealed a previously undiagnosed affliction called moyamoya, a vessel disorder in which the skull's carotid artery is blocked or narrowed.

The bout was canceled from the card entirely, leaving Della Maddalena without an opponent and Harrell, according to his manager (via ESPN) facing brain surgery before he's able to consider continuing a career that began in 2020 and had seen him win seven straight fights inside the distance.

Full Card Results

Main Card

Alexander Volkanovski def. Yair Rodriguez by TKO (punches), 4:19, Round 3

Alexandre Pantoja def. Brandon Moreno by split decision (46-49, 48-47, 48-47)

Dricus Du Plessis def. Robert Whittaker by TKO (punches), 2:23, Round 2

Dan Hooker def. Jalin Turner by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Bo Nickal def. Val Woodburn by KO (punches), 0:38, Round 1

Preliminary Card

Robbie Lawler def. Niko Price by KO (punches), 0:38, Round 1

Tatsuro Taira def. Edgar Chairez by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

Denise Gomes def. Yazmin Jauregui by TKO (punches), 0:20, Round 1

Alonzo Menifield def. Jimmy Crute by submission (guillotine choke), 1:55, Round 2

Early Preliminary Card

Vitor Petrino def. Marcin Prachnio by submission (head/arm choke) 3:42, Round 3

Cameron Saaiman def. Terrence Mitchell by TKO (punches), 3:10, Round 1

Jesus Aguilar def. Shannon Ross by KO (punch), 0:17, Round 1

Esteban Ribovics def. Kamuela Kirk by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Odds via DraftKings. Unless otherwise noted, all stats via UFC Stats.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL).

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), or call or text the TN REDLINE: 800-889-9789 (TN).

21+. NJ/PA/WV/IN/IA/CO/IL/TN only. In partnership with Meadows Racetrack & Casino. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.