Alexander Volkanovski is champ again
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us tonight, April 12, 2025, for UFC 314, going down live from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Headlining the UFC 314 event was a vacant featherweight title bout between no. 1 ranked former champion Alexander Volkanovski (27-4) and no. 3 ranked Diego Lopes (26-7).
Volkanovski came into the bout off his first ever defeat at 145 lbs when he was stopped by Ilia Topuria (KO) last year at UFC 298. That was expected to be his sixth title defense, and he was 16-0 overall as a featherweight throughout his career going in.
Lopes on the other hand, following defeat to no. 4 ranked Movsar Evloev in his short notice UFC debut, has since won five straight over the likes of Gavin Tucker (triangle armbar), Pat Sabatini (KO), Sodiq Yusuff (TKO), Dan Ige (UD), and Brian Ortega (UD).
Ilia Topuria is currently 16-0 as a professional, while Movsar Evloev is 19-0; those are the only two men to beat these two at featherweight inside the octagon.
Continue reading to see how our UFC 314 main event went down:
Official Result: Alexander Volkanovski def. Diego Lopes via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
Lopes had a good start to the opening round, though he fought a very measured pace. He landed a couple good punches when Volkanovski engaged, and each were landing good leg kicks onto the other. Volkanovski landed a nasty left hook that wobbled Lopes backward about three minutes in. Volkanovski soon after secured a takedown and reigned down some heavy ground and pound before the bell sounded.
Volkanovski looked good on the feet throughout round two, though unable to take Lopes down again. Lopes did land some good punches in the second but Volkanovski’s chin held up until the very end of the round when he got dropped in an exchange.
Round three was quite close, each man having success on the feet. Lopes was landing with more impact more often than not, while Volkanovski was clearly the more technical of the two.
Lopes had his best round of the fight in the fourth, hurting Volkanovski with a vicious uppercut, swarming him in search of the finish for a solid minute before he slowed his pace as the former champion was still standing.
Volkanovski largely out-struck Lopes through round five, though Lopes did land the heavier shots.
Alexander Volkanovski reclaims his UFC featherweight championship with this impressive victory tonight at UFC 314. Fighters that are 35 years of age or older and fight at or below 155 lbs had gone 0-17 in title fights, until tonight. Our new two time UFC featherweight champion just broke that statistic.
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