The bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes is the UFC 314 main event on April 12 at Kaseya Center in Miami, FL. The pair battle it out for the vacant featherweight belt.
Australia’s former titleholder Volkanovski was rumored to face Georgian current champion Ilia Topuria in a championship rematch. The latter, however, is set to move up a weight class and vacate the 145-pound strap.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the Volkanovski vs Lopes matchup, as well as Topuria’s move to lightweight, via a live video on social media.
“Topuria has felt like he’s done all he can in that division, and he feels like he’s cemented his legacy, and his body cannot make the weight anymore,” White said. “So, Topuria will be moving up to 155 pounds and will be vacating the featherweight title.”
The title becomes vacant “as soon as the first punch is thrown in” [the UFC 314 main event between Volkanovski and Lopes].
Volkanovski (26-4) looks to become a two-time featherweight champion after dropping the title by knockout in the second round against Topuria last February. In October 2023, the 36-year-old was knocked out by current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the first round of their rematch, after taking the fight on short notice.
Diego Lopes (26-6) is riding a five-fight winning streak, having won three fights in 2024. The 30-year-old Brazilian defeated Brian Ortega and Dan Ige by unanimous decision and stopped Sodiq Yusuff in the first round.
Details for Topuria’s (16-0) debut at lightweight have yet to be determined. The undefeated 28-year-old native of Halle, Germany, who is based in Spain, is coming off a third-round knockout victory against Max Holloway last October.
In other bouts
Also confirmed for UFC 314 is a lightweight bout pitting former title challenger Michael Chandler against Paddy Pimblett. The pair square off in a five-round contest serving as the co-main event.
Three-time Bellator lightweight champion Chandler (23-9) from High Ridge, Missouri, lost a unanimous decision to Charles Oliveira last November, which was his first fight since November 2022, when he was submitted by Dustin Poirier in the third round. Pimblett (22-3) from England secured his eighth straight victory last July, submitting King Green in the first round.
Among other bouts, Mexican featherweight Yair Rodriguez (19-5, 1 NC) faces Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (36-7) from Brazil. Rodriguez was submitted by Ortega last February and stopped by Volkanovski in July 2023. Former two-division Bellator champion Freire makes his UFC debut after stopping Jeremy Kennedy in the third round last March.
The previously reported bout between Gilbert Burns (22-8) of Brazil and Michael Morales (17-0) of Ecuador has been moved to UFC 315 on May 10 in Montreal, Quebec.
The current UFC 314 fight card is as follows:
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes – Vacant UFC featherweight title
- Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Pitbull
- Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates
- Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes
- Yan Xiaonan vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa
- Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper
- Alberto Montes vs. Roberto Romero
- Sedriques Dumas vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Su Mudaerji vs. Mitch Raposo
- Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson