Alexander Volkanovski has reclaimed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight championship after defeating Diego Lopes by unanimous decision at UFC 314 in Miami, where United States President Donald Trump was in attendance.
Two judges scored the fight 49-46 and the third had it 48-47 as the Australian mixed martial arts fighter won the title early Sunday.
Volkanovski (27-4) had successfully defended his belt four times before losing to Israel Makhachev on February 11, 2023.
“It’s good to be back,” Volkanovski said after the win.
As for Lopes, he gave his full respect to the champion but wanted the crowd to know this was not the end of the journey.
“It was an honour to share the Octagon with Alexander Volkanovski,” Lopes said. “I’ll be back.”
Trump, a longtime friend of UFC President and CEO Dana White, as well as a fan of the sport, watched from the front row.
Basketball legend 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 owner and White House adviser Elon Musk.
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’s 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.
This was the 10th consecutive title fight for the 36-year-old top-ranked contender Volkanovski. Lopes, 30, was in his first title bout.
Volkanovski ended Lopes’s five-match winning streak.
Volkanovski had plenty of reasons for wanting to get to work. He took an extended layoff after losing in February 2024 to Topuria. More than that, he was 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.
In the co-main event, lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett continued this rise with a technical knockout of Michael Chandler after three minutes and seven seconds in the third round. Plimbett, a 30-year-old from Liverpool, United Kingdom, has won all seven of his bouts since moving to the organisation, 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 make 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 criticised Mitchell, he did not discipline him.
Mitchell was little match for Jean Silva in their featherweight fight. Silva won by submission with a guillotine choke with a minute left in the second round.
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