Title fights are nothing new to Alexander Volkanovski. His featherweight bout early Sunday morning against Diego Lopes was his 10th championship fight in a row, but Volkanovski had been in a slump in which he had lost three of his past four matches.
He left little doubt against Lopes at UFC 314, winning by unanimous decision. Two judges scored the fight 49-46 and the other had it 48-47.
“It’s good to be back,” Volkanovski said. “I promised my girls I would bring the belt back to them. It doesn’t matter about bringing the belt back. The message was a lot of people counted me out.”
Volkanovski (27-4) had successfully defended his belt four times before moving up a weight class and losing to Israel Makhachev on Feb. 11, 2023. Then after reclaiming the featherweight title five months later over Yair Rodriguez, Volkanovski lost back-to-back matches.
Now he has championship back.
President Donald Trump, a longtime friend of UFC President and CEO Dana White and a fan of the sport, watched from the front row. Shaquille O’Neal approached Trump and shook his hand. Cabinet officials Tulsi Gabbard, Marco Rubio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also were in attendance as was X (formerly Twitter) owner and White House adviser Elon Musk.
In the co-main event, No. 12 lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett continued his UFC rise with a technical knockout of No. 7 Michael Chandler at 3:07 of the third round. Pimblett, a 30-year-old from Liverpool, England, has won all seven of his bouts since moving to the organization, giving him a 23-3 record overall.
“I want that world title,” Pimblett said. “Some say I’ll never be champ, I’ll never get run, I’ll never be in the top 10. But what now?”
At nearly 39, Chandler has some decisions to making after winning just two of his most recent seven bouts. He is 23-10.
Featherweight Bryce Mitchell, who fought for the first time since praising Adolf Hitler and denying the Holocaust on a podcast, was also on the card. He later backed off his comments and though White heavily criticized Mitchell, he didn´t discipline him.
Mitchell was little match for Jean Silva in their featherweight fight. Silva won by submission with a guillotine choke with 1:08 left in the second round.
Volkanovski, despite getting cut below his right eye in the second and being floored by an overhand right in that round, dominated the first three rounds. But Lopes’ glove caught Volkanovski’s other eye in the fourth round and then pounced, but failed to put him away.
That set up the fifth round and, barring a knockout, Volkanovski appeared on his way to victory even though Lopes spent much of the fight verbally challenging him and inviting him to box. Theatrics to the contrary, Volkanovski was the aggressor.
Volkanovski had hoped to get another shot at Ilia Topuria and avenge his loss from more than a year ago at UFC 298. But Topuria moved up to the lightweight division, leaving the featherweight class vacant.
In stepped Lopes, the third-ranked challenger, to take on Volkanovski, the 36-year-old from Australia. Lopes, a 30-year-old from Brazil, was in first title bout.
“Maybe I came up short on the technical piece,” Lopes said through an interpreter. “I can see myself coming back. I have only two years in this organization, and I think I’m going to train better. I’m going to get better.”
Volkanovski was a -160 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook to defeat Lopes (26-7), whose five-match winning streak ended.
In preparing for Lopes, Volkanovski said he fully committed himself by beginning training camp earlier than usual and focusing on the workout recovery process and dieting in addition to the physical demands. He said he has never been this lean going into a bout.
Volkanovski had plenty of reason for wanting to get to work. He took an extended layoff after losing in February 2024 to Topuria. More than that, he´s coming off defeats in three of his past four fights, including losing the two most recent matches. All four fights occurred in less than a year, so he was much more rested.