Alexander Volkanovski is UFC featherweight champion once again. Volkanovski defeated Diego Lopes by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 314 to capture the vacant title.
Were there concerns that Volkanovski may have been gun-shy after suffering nasty knockouts to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria in back-to-back fights, those concerns were quickly put to bed. Volkanovski was on point from the jump. Volkanovski connected with heavy right and left hands throughout the opening frame, adding in a few leg kicks and a big takedown shortly before the bell.
Volkanovski continued to pour on the effective offense through the second round, beating an increasingly flustered Lopes to the punch and even sending Lopes stumbling into the cage off of a combination. Despite how poorly things had been going, Lopes had a big moment late in the second when he landed a right hand as Volkanovski was moving backward, the shot sending Volkanovski to the canvas right before the bell.
While the knockdown was partially a product of Volkanovski’s balance as he moved backward, it gave Lopes a moment of momentum to try and build off of. Despite that, Volkanovski was again largely in control through the third round and seemingly took a 3-0 advantage in rounds on into the championship rounds.
Things got interesting in Round 4, with Lopes landing an uppercut to Volkanovski’s right eye that seemed to bother him. As Volkanovski pawed at the eye, Lopes came forward with a steady stream of punches as Volkanovski retreated and attempted to recover. While Volkanovski eventually was back to landing well-timed counter shots by the end of the frame, in the corner after the round, he told his corner, “I’m starting to get my eyesight back now.”
Seemingly knowing his chance to capture the championship was slipping away, Lopes spent the final minute of the fight trying to come forward and pressure Volkanovski with strikes, though nothing of note landed out of the aggression and Volkanovski again was the man landing cleaner punches.
After five rounds of action, the judges returned scorecards of 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46 all for Volkanovski who now begins his second reign as featherweight champion.
With the win, Volkanovski becomes the first male fighter in UFC history to win a championship fight after the age of 35. Volkanovski previously won the title with a December 2019 win over Max Holloway and made five successful title defenses before being knocked out by Topuria in February 2024.
Lopes lost his UFC debut in March 2023 before winning five straight fights to earn his first career shot at UFC gold. After the fight, he vowed that he would be back, and at 30 years old, there’s still plenty of time for Lopes to capture a championship.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday, bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 314 below.
UFC 314 card, results
- Alexander Volkanovski (c) def. Diego Lopes via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
- Paddy Pimblett def. Michael Chandler via third-round TKO (punches)
- Yair Rodriguez def. Patricio Pitbull via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jean Silva def. Bryce Mitchell via second-round submission (ninja choke)
- Dominick Reyes def. Nikita Krylov via first-round knockout (punch)
- Dan Ige def. Sean Woodson via third-round TKO (punches)
- Virna Jandiroba vs. Yan Xiaonan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Chase Hooper def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Julian Erosa def. Darren Elkins via first-round TKO (punches)
- Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Sedriques Dumas via first-round TKO (punches)
- Sumudaerji def. Mitch Raposo via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marco Tulio def. Tresean Gore via second-round TKO (punches)
- Nora Cornolle def. Hailey Cowan via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
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