Volkanovski to fight Lopes for UFC title vacated by Topuria
There will be a new featherweight champion at UFC 314.
UFC CEO Dana White announced on Instagram Live that Alexander Volkanovski (26-4) will look to become a two-time featherweight champion when he faces Diego Lopes (26-6) in the main event of the fight card at the Kaseya Center in Miami on April 12.
White said current featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will vacate the title and move up to the lightweight division in pursuit of a world championship in a second weight class. There is no fight lined up for Topuria’s forthcoming lightweight debut.
Volkanovski has suffered consecutive knockout losses, falling to current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in October 2023 before losing the featherweight title to Topuria last February. Lopes will enter the fight on a five-fight winning streak, with his last victory coming by dominant unanimous decision over former title contender Brian Ortega at Riyadh Season Noche UFC last September.
The co-main event will be a five-round lightweight fight between Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett.
Chandler, the UFC’s No. 7-ranked lightweight, is coming off a decision loss to former champion Charles Oliveira in November. Chandler, 38, was famously tied to a major showdown with superstar Conor McGregor and was sidelined for two years as the UFC targeted a fight between the two. A fight was announced for UFC 303 last June, but McGregor was forced out with a toe injury two weeks before the fight date. Rather than wait again, Chandler (23-9) opted to face Oliveira. He is 1-4 in his past five fights.
Pimblett (22-3) is the UFC’s No. 12-ranked lightweight and is 6-0 in the UFC. Fighting out of Liverpool, England, Pimblett was last in action when he submitted King Green in the first round of their 155-pound fight at UFC 304 in July.
Also announced is the UFC debut of former Bellator two-weight world champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, who will face Yair Rodriguez in a featherweight fight. Freire was the second simultaneous two-division champion in Bellator MMA history and was widely considered the best fighter to never compete in the UFC. That will end at UFC 314 against a former title contender.
Freire, 37, was released from his PFL contract in January after months of disagreements over his lack of activity in the MMA promotion. He last fought in March 2024 when he successfully defended the featherweight championship against Jeremy Kennedy.
Two championships will be on the line when the UFC heads to Montreal on May 10.
Belal Muhammad (24-3) will defend the welterweight championship against Jack Della Maddalena (17-2) in the main event of UFC 315, and women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will put her title on the line against Manon Fiorot in the co-main event of the fight card that will take place at the Bell Centre.
Muhammad was originally slated to make his first title defense against top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov in December. However, a bone infection in his foot forced Muhammad out of the fight. The plan was for the bout to be rescheduled for the first half of 2025, but Rakhmonov has been dealing with a lingering injury and will not be available for May. In his place will be Della Maddalena, who had been slated to face former welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night in London on March 22. But with Rakhmonov unavailable, the Australian fighter was pulled and will now get his first opportunity at UFC gold. Sean Brady will step in for Della Maddalena to face Edwards in March.
Muhammad has not lost a fight in six years and is coming off a one-sided decision win over Edwards to win the 170-pound championship in July. He will look to end Della Maddalena’s 17-fight winning streak.
Shevchenko (29-4-1) reclaimed the strawweight championship by defeating Alexa Grasso in September. ESPN’s No. 2 women’s pound-for-pound fighter avenged the only submission loss of her career and will now look to begin a second run as flyweight champion. “Bullet” successfully defended the championship seven times during her first run as champion and will kick off her second tenure against a slick striker who will look to match Shevchenko in the standup.
Fighting out of France, Fiorot (12-1) made her UFC debut in January 2021 with a knockout of Victoria Leonardo and hasn’t looked back since, running her current winning streak to 12 with wins over Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield. The UFC’s No. 2-ranked women’s flyweight will get her first crack at gold against one of the best to ever do it.
Also announced for UFC 315 were:
• Former women’s flyweight champion Grasso will look to bounce back from the Shevchenko loss when she faces Natalia Silva.
• Former welterweight title contender Gilbert Burns will look to stop the surging Michael Morales in a showdown between 170-pound fighters jockeying for position in the championship pecking order.
UFC 315 will mark the promotion’s first event in Montreal in 10 years.
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DANA WHITE ANNOUNCES UFC 314 AND UFC 315 MAIN EVENTS
UFC CEO Dana White gave several bombshell announcements via his social media channels. The main events for UFC 314 and UFC 315 highlight the bunch. At the Miami-set UFC 314, Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes fight for the undisputed featherweight title, and at UFC 315 in Montreal, Belal Muhammad defends his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena.
Volkanovski and Lopes lock horns in Miami, marking Volkanovski’s return to action after 14 months away following his knockout loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298. “The Great” seeks 2-time champion status, and while most assumed that shot would come in a rematch against Topuria, Diego Lopes is arguably the hottest fighter in the division outside of “El Matador.” Lopes burst onto the scene in mid-2023, earning five wins in 13 months to catapult himself into the featherweight title picture. His most-recent effort was a 3-round beatdown of Brian Ortega at UFC 306. Less than two years into his UFC career, Lopes will challenge arguably the greatest featherweight of all-time for the belt.
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The former featherweight champion is in unfamiliar territory having lost two on the bounce by knockout and three of his last four. However, the hyperactive 36-year-old has beaten everyone not named of Topuria and Islam Makhachev, and he is keen to regain his crown after more than a year out of competition.
White mentioned in his announcement that Topuria is vacating the featherweight title and his next fight will be announced on a later date. Topuria will be the champion until the first round starts in Miami.
Joining the featherweight title bout is a pair of highly intriguing matchups. First, Liverpool’s Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett gets his highest-profile test to date as he faces former lightweight title challenger Michael Chandler. Pimblett is coming off what was arguably his best performance in the Octagon, a first-round submission win over King Green at UFC 304. The rising scouse star, who turned 30 in January, is 6-0 since making his debut in September 2021 and figures to become a real player at 155 should he get past “Iron.”
The 38-year-old Chandler has been a big-game hunter since his Octagon debut in January 2021, and in six Octagon appearances, Chandler has earned five Performance Bonuses. However, he is 2-4 in those fights, and if he hopes to keep his championship aspirations alive, he needs to thwart Pimblett in Miami.
Finally, another major featherweight bout takes place in South Florida as former interim champion Yair Rodriguez welcomes Patricio Pitbull to the Octagon. Rodriguez is seeking his first win since earning the interim title in January 2023. Back-to-back losses to Volkanovski and Brian Ortega stymied his post-championship momentum, but the 32-year-old can get back on track in the title picture should be defeat the newcomer. On the other hand, Pitbull wants to make a debut-to-remember. Long considered one of the best featherweights outside of the UFC, the 37-year-old wants to take the quickest route to a title shot after spending his 43-fight professional career outside of the promotion. The Brazilian is dangerous everywhere, boasting 12 knockouts and 12 submissions on his resume.
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The UFC 315 main event between Muhammad and Della Maddalena came as a surprise as Della Maddalena was slated to face former champion Leon Edwards in London on March 22. However, the Perth-bred contender is more than deserving of the shot at gold after collecting seven wins in seven Octagon appearances. Most recently, Della Maddalena scored a knockout win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 299. The 28-year-old graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series has his hands full against Muhammad, whose unbeaten streak stretches back to April 2019. “Remember the Name” took the long road to UFC gold, but he put it all together in a decision win over Edwards at UFC 304. Now, he gets to start his championship reign in earnest.
Joining Muhammad and Della Maddalena in Montreal is a highly-anticipated flyweight title fight between champ Valentina Shevchenko and France’s Manon Fiorot. Shevchenko, inarguably the greatest women’s flyweight of all-time, regained her belt after a year-and-a-half, 3-fight saga with Alexa Grasso. The trilogy culminated in a decision win for Shevchenko at UFC 306, and upon her victory, it was clear Fiorot was next in line. The 34-year-old in France has long been seen as a contender-in-waiting since making her Octagon debut in January 2021. Since then, she is a perfect 7-0 in the Octagon, including wins over Katlyn Cerminara, Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield in her last three.
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Due to Della Maddalena’s title shot, the March 22 main event between he and Edwards in London was naturally scrapped. In the Australian’s place, Sean Brady will step up for his second main event opportunity. The Philadelphia-native scored his first 5-round win in a decision effort over Burns in September 2024 to increase his Octagon record to 7-1. This bout against Edwards is his potential ticket to the title picture. However, the 33-year-old former champion is keen to get his belt back as well. Edwards’ loss to Muhammad was his first since December 2015, and he is of the mindset that one or two more wins could get him back into that golden opportunity.
Stay tuned to UFC.com for any updates regarding fights and events.
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Miami mayhem! Dana White drops UFC 314 fight card blockbuster – Ilia Topuria vacates, Volkanovski vs. Lopes title bout headlines
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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is returning to Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla., on April 12, 2025, with a wild pay-per-view (PPV) show that will feature a battle for the vacant Featherweight title in UFC 314’s main event.
You didn’t read that wrong.
First things first: UFC CEO, Dana White, tonight revealed via social media that former 145-pound kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski, will lock horns with No. 3-seeded contender, Diego Lopes.
Of course, that means that Ilia Topuria — who had just one awesome title defense — has vacated his Featherweight crown to chase history at the potential expense of reigning Lightweight roost-ruler, Islam Makhachev.
Fight fans can’t say they weren’t warned, but this is truly an unprecedented turn of events.
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Volkanovski (26-4) has been out of action since a soul-crushing knockout loss to Topuria at UFC 298 back in Feb. 2024 (watch highlights). As a result, the long-time, 145-pound kingpin is currently mired in the first-ever losing streak of his legendary career.
It all fell apart … fast. The good news?
Volkanovski now has the opportunity to summit the mountain once more when he locks horns with Lopes (26-6). However, it will not be easy — Lopes has been on an absolute roll since losing his Octagon debut to Movsar Evolev on short notice back at UFC 288.
Indeed, the 30-year-old is riding a five-fight win streak with wins over Brian Ortega, Dan Ige and Sodiq Yusuff, among others.
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In addition, top-ranked Lightweight contenders Michael Chandler (No. 7) and Paddy Pimblett (No. 12) will lock horns in UFC 314’s PPV co-main event in an electrifying 155-pound clash. The bout is scheduled for five, five-minute rounds.
Chandler is looking to rebound after a foul-heavy unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 back in Nov. 2024, while Pimblett is riding high off a six-fight UFC win streak, most recently submitting veteran King Green with a slick triangle choke at UFC 304 in July 2024 (watch highlights).
That’s not all.
In addition to the surprise championship headliner, White and Co. have added a 145-pound insurance policy (imagine that!), with former interim champion, Yair Rodriguez, welcoming former two-division Bellator MMA deity, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, to the Octagon for the first time ever.
That’s a surprise, too.
White also revealed that tough-as-nails No. 10-ranked Welterweight, Geoff Neal, will take on red-hot division contender, Carlos Prates, who is coming off his first-ever main event win (a first round knockout) over Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 100 back in Nov. 2024.
Huzzah … anyone got a cigarette?
Checkout UFC 314’s bonkers PPV fight card as it stands below:
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145 lbs.: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes for vacant Featherweight championship
155 lbs.: Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett
145 lbs.: Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire
170 lbs.: Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates
115 lbs.: Yan Xiaonan vs. Virna Jandiroba
205 lbs.: Dominick Reyes vs. Nikita Krylov
155 lbs.: Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper
145 lbs.: Roberto Romero vs. Alberto Montes
125 lbs.: Su Mudaerji vs. Mitch Raposo
145 lbs.: Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa
185 lbs.: Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Sedriques Dumas
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To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.
