UFC 314 Main Event: Volkanovski Vs. Lopes Odds, Predictions And Picks
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: (L-R) Opponents Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes face off during ... More the UFC 314 press conference at Michelob ULTRA Arena on March 07, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
The stacked UFC 314 fight card is nearly here. That pay-per-view event takes place on Saturday, April 12, at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. A featherweight matchup between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes headlines the event. The 145-pound scrap will crown the next UFC featherweight champion. The UFC 314 co-main event is a pivotal lightweight matchup between former UFC title challenger Michael Chandler and the rising Paddy Pimblett. Also on the main card of UFC 314 is a featherweight contest between Bryce Mitchell and the surging Jean Silva. The PPV also sees former Bellator champion Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire making his promotional debut opposite former UFC featherweight title challenger Yair Rodriguez. Below, we look at the betting odds, betting line movement, picks, and predictions for the Volkanovski vs. Lopes fight.
The winner of the UFC 314 main event will walk away from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida with the UFC featherweight title over their shoulder.
In announcing Volkanovski vs. Lopes, UFC CEO Dana White said of the soon to be former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, 'Topuria has felt like he's done all he can in that division, and he feels like he's cemented his legacy, and his body cannot make the weight anymore. So Topuria will be moving up to 155 pounds and will be vacating the featherweight title. … As soon as the first punch is thrown in (Volkanovski vs. Lopes), the title is vacated. We will announce what Topuria's next fight will be when we get it done.'
Volkanovski (26-4) is a former UFC featherweight champion. He held the title from December 2019 through February 2024, defending the belt five times over that time. His reign began with a unanimous decision win over Max Holloway and ended in a knockout loss to Topuria in February 2024.
During his run with the 145-pound belt, Volkanovski twice fought for the UFC lightweight belt, losing to Islam Makhachev in February and October 2023. Makhachev won the first meeting by decision. He followed that with a knockout victory.
Volkanovski has not stepped into the Octagon since his loss to Topuria. He is the No. 1 fighter in the official UFC featherweight rankings.
Lopes (26-6) is the No. 3 fighter in the UFC's 145-pound weight class. Lopes joined the UFC in May 2023, dropping his promotional debut to Movsar Evloev via decision. Since then, Lopes is unbeaten in five fights. His most recent victory was a UFC 306 decision win over two-time UFC title challenger Brian Ortega.
When the betting line opened for the UFC 314 main event, Volkanovski was listed as the -151 betting favorite over Lopes, who opened as the +131 betting underdog. The betting for the contest has shifted, but not much. Today, Volkanovski is a -122 favorite over the +102 Lopes.
*Odds via BetOnline
UFC Fight Card Schedule For April 2025: Including UFC 314
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: Diego Lopes is seen on stage during the UFC 314 press conference at ... More Michelob ULTRA Arena on March 07, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Age: 36
Height: 5' 6'
Reach: 71'
Stance: Orthodox
Age: 30
Height: 5' 11'
Reach: 72'
Stance: Orthodox
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: Alexander Volkanovski is seen on stage during the UFC 314 press ... More conference at Michelob ULTRA Arena on March 07, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Volkanovski is facing two issues heading into UFC 314. First, he is older than 35. That age has been a barrier for fighter under 170 pounds when it comes to winning UFC titles. Second, no UFC fighter has ever come back from two knockout defeats to claim UFC gold. However, Volkanovski is one of the best to ever compete in the UFC's 145-pound weight class, so those two sticking points might be little more than reference material to cite when discussing the main event of UFC 314.
Lopes is a very talented fighter, and he might be a future UFC champion, but he won't win that title on Saturday. Lopes lacks the poise, control, fight IQ, coachability and ability to make in-fight adjustments of his opponent. Lopes will have his moments in this contest, but in the end this fight will serve as more of a learning experience for him and his team. They will leave Florida without the title, but they will have a wealth of knowledge to carry with them for the next time Lopes competes for UFC gold — and he will fight for UFC gold again.
The betting pick for the UFC 314 main event is for Alexander Volkanovski to win the vacant UFC featherweight title via decision.
UFC 314 Fight Card Odds And Predictions: Rodriguez Vs. Freire
UFC 314 Fight Card Odds And Predictions: Bryce Mitchell Vs. Jean Silva
UFC 314 Co-Main Event Odds And Predictions: Chandler Vs. Pimblett
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: Michael Chandler is seen on stage during the UFC 314 press conference ... More at Michelob ULTRA Arena on March 07, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Michael Chandler (23-9) missed a lot of time over the past few years waiting for a bout opposite Conor McGregor to come together. With that fight looking less likely by the day, Chandler returned to the Octagon on November 2024 to face former UFC champion Charles Oliveira. It was Chandler's first foray into the cage since a 2022 loss to Dustin Poirier. Oliveira downed Chandler via decision at UFC 309.
Chandler joined the UFC in 2021 after a long and successful tenure with Bellator. As a competitor for that promotion from 2010 through 2020, Chandler was a three-time lightweight champion. He defended the title twice during his first run with the belt and once during his second stint as champ. His third run as Bellator lightweight champ ended with a TKO loss to Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, who is making his UFC debut at UFC 314.
Chandler is 2-4 with the UFC, but outside his 2022 matchup against a fading Tony Ferguson, the 38-year-old has only faced the elite of the division. In addition to his bouts against Poirier and Oliveira, he has met Dan Hooker and Justin Gaethje inside the Octagon.
Chandler's UFC wins came against Hooker (TKO) and Ferguson (knockout). The former Bellator champ is the No. 7 ranked competitor in the official UFC lightweight rankings.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: Paddy Pimblett is seen on stage during the UFC 314 press conference at ... More Michelob ULTRA Arena on March 07, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Paddy Pimblett (22-3) is a former Cage Warriors lightweight champion. He has slowly been working his way up the UFC rankings since making his promotional debut in September 2021. Now 6-0 with the UFC, Pimblett looks to take a step up in competition against Chandler. Pimblett is coming off a UFC 304 'Performance of the Night' bonus-winning submission win over Bobby Green.
Pimblett had a successful run with the Cage Warriors promotion before he joined the UFC in 2021. During his time with Cage Warriors, which spanned 2013 through 2021, Pimblett won and defended the CW featherweight title and fought for that promotion's lightweight crown.
Pimblett has been a fan favorite since he made his UFC debut and while some have been critical of the matchmaking the UFC have provided for Pimblett, something he addressed at the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference, Pimblett is in for a big test against Chandler.
Pimblett is the No. 12 ranked UFC 155-pound fighter.
We will have more on UFC 314 Volkanovski vs. Lopes scrap as fight night nears, as well as live results, reactions, highlights and more for the UFC 314 pay-per-view card on fight night.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
UFC books Bellator notable Mandel Nallo vs. Cage Warriors champ Samuel Silva for DWCS
UFC books Bellator notable Mandel Nallo vs. Cage Warriors champ Samuel Silva for DWCS MMA worlds will collide as a former Bellator knockout artist and a current Cage Warriors champion will collide this summer with a UFC contract on the line. Tristar's Mandel Nallo and Cage Warriors lightweight champion Samuel Silva are set to square off Sept. 2 on Dana White's Contender Series at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Nallo (13-3) competed eight times for Bellator from 2017 to 2023. He compiled a 4-3 record with one no contest, as the promotion struggled to find him fights. That problem continued when Nallo hit free agency in early 2023. Since then, he's 4-0 in MMA with an additional win in bareknuckle MMA. All five of those fights he finished inside the distance. Silva (13-4-1) empathically turned heads in March when he upset Cage Warriors champion George Hardwick in an epic five-round battle. Silva won the bout via unanimous decision to extend his winning streak to five. The current DWCS lineup for Sept. 2 includes:
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mailbag: What's next for Sean O'Malley after consecutive UFC title losses?
After another dominant performance at UFC 316, what are the most interesting potential fights for bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili? What's next for Sean O'Malley? Plus, does Julianna Peña really believe she ought to get the winner of the Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes fight? Really?? All that and more in this week's mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @benfowlkesmma or @ @MMAJunkieGeorge: I hand you 100k as a gift. But you must bet a side between the following … Merab vs. Volk, who would you pick? Advertisement If they're fighting at 145 pounds, I have to pick Alexander Volkanovski. As good as Merab Dvalishvili is, and as dialed in as he's seemed these last few fights, I just don't think his style would be nearly as effective up a weight class. Volkanovski isn't even one of the bigger guys at featherweight, but I think the size and strength would make it harder for Merab to do Merab things. He's a dominant force in his weight class. That's where he should stay until the UFC makes it financially worthwhile to leave (which, let's be honest, probably isn't going to happen). @justlikelasagna: Isn't it time to start thinking about UFC after Dana White. They haven't pushed names they've always pushed him. Except everything but UFC seems to be grabbing Dana's attention recently. What's the next step post Dana? I've never seen anyone look so disinterested running a billion-dollar company. One of the UFC's great strengths is its organization. Most fight promotions are a damn mess, but the UFC is a well-oiled machine that can churn out weekly events on auto-pilot from now until the rapture. The flip side of this is that it seems to have gotten pretty boring for UFC CEO Dana White, who had to have the current state of his heavyweight division explained to him on Saturday by the media members who have actually been paying attention. Advertisement That said, I don't think anything short of death would get him out of that job. He's too synonymous with the brand, and clearly the day-to-day demands of the job are not exactly an inhuman labor. Eventually, yes, there will probably be a UFC without White. But this content machine could already plug along without him (and largely does, in purely practical terms) so I'm not sure how much it would really change anything. @wolfe_was_here: Tito Ortiz's ¿wizardry? of the English language was recently on display again. What are a couple of your favourite excerpts from The Tao of Tito? You know what amazes me about Tito Ortiz's magical way with words? It's the consistency. For decades this man has been showing up and talking about how he fights to put food on the roof and a table over his family's head — and he's never once showed the slightest bit of self-awareness about any of it. At a certain point we must abandon the notion that Ortiz is bad at talking and is instead a genius at some other form of communication that the rest of us can't even fully conceive of. It's like those aliens in Arrival who have not only a different language, but a completely different mode of expression and comprehension of both time and space. He's operating on a totally different mode and has been for decades. How else could he have managed this: @EyeofMihawk: Can we finally do away with unearned title rematches now? O'Malley got smashed. Juliana Peña still thinks she can call dibs. Yair Rodriguez turned down Diego Lopes. None of them deserve a title shot. This has to stop. Advertisement OK, I will admit that when I saw Julianna Peña trying to call 'dibs' on the winner of Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes, I had to check and make sure I wasn't being trolled by a fake account. I get it, fighters have to be at least a little bit delusional. And over the years Peña has given us reason to think she's well past a little bit. I think that's definitely helped her at times. She's won some fights she had no business winning simply because she was the last person to realize how overmatched she was. But this time? After that showing? I struggle to understand what's going on in her head. She was never really in that fight with Harrison, and the loss brought an end to one of the least distinguished title reigns in UFC history. A close second is her first title reign, which also ended as soon as she had to defend the belt. I don't really blame her for trying to put her name in the mix, just like I don't blame Sean O'Malley for accepting that rematch or Yair Rodriguez for aiming up at gold rather than a fellow contender. The title is where the money is, so why not ask for a shot? The worst they can say is no. Or, in Peña's case, maybe hell no. @JSanchezOnSI: Hey Ben! Just discovered you and loving your work my man. I'd like to know where you think O'Malley goes from here? Fight a few lower ranked guys? Move down a weight? He's stuck in no man's land a bit like Holloway after Volk. Advertisement I don't think he could make 125 pounds without a tapeworm, so if he's going to change weight classes, I think it makes a lot more sense to go up. With his frame, he could probably hold his own at featherweight. At the very least he'd have a bunch of new potential matchups and a fresh start in a new weight class. Staying at bantamweight seems like it offers limited possibilities as long as Dvalishvili is the champ. And it looks like he might stay that way for a long time. @sentientlife4o1: What's up with Patchy Mix? Was he fraud checked or was it first fight in the UFC jitters? Now that a number of Bellator champions have done relatively poorly in the UFC, is it fair to say the entire organization has been fraud checked? No, I don't think that's fair to say. Patchy Mix looked very bad, but he also looked bad in the way that suggested it could have been mostly nerves. Lots of fighters have struggled in their UFC debuts and then gone on to have great careers. The list of people who lost their first fight in the UFC includes Merab Dvalishvili, Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua, Fabricio Werdum, Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva, just to name a few. Mix fought a very tough opponent and took about two rounds to wake up, by which point it was too late to get back in the fight. That can happen. It doesn't mean he was never any good to begin with. As for other Bellator champs, they've mostly come over to the UFC only after having entire careers elsewhere. That comes at a cost. @SLefkaditis: If Merab beats Cory, is there any other fight than Pantoja? Advertisement Sure, there are other fights. I get the sense the UFC would like to get Umar Nurmagomedov back in there with him for another shot. I'm not saying I love the idea, but I don't think it would take much to talk the UFC into it. Honestly, I think Dvalishvili would be a very, very tough fight for Alexandre Pantoja. But if the flyweight champ wanted to take the risk and move up in weight, I'd sure watch it. He does seem like a man in need of a challenge. @forty7pitches: Do you think the UFC will ever get to Connor levels again? I'm not sure it really cares to. I think the UFC learned a few things from the Conor McGregor era, one of which is that there are easier ways to make consistent, predictable profits that don't rely on catching lightning in a bottle. Stars are tricky in this sport. They tend to be a lot less compliant than the rank-and-file fighters on meager 50/50 contracts that fill out the content calendar. Do I think we could see another star emerge who's as big or bigger than McGregor? Sure. This is an individual sport and there's always someone out there with the potential to capture the attention and imagination of the audience. I just don't think that's a priority for the UFC or its parent company right now.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Joaquin Buckley doesn't expect to ever face Islam Makhachev despite looming UFC superfight
Joaquin Buckley doesn't expect to ever face Islam Makhachev despite looming UFC superfight Show Caption Hide Caption UFC Atlanta: Joaquin Buckley media day interview Joaquin Buckley speaks to reporters at the UFC Atlanta media day. ATLANTA – Eager as ever to prove he's the best in the world, Joaquin Buckley also respects the UFC's business ventures – even if it means he has to wait. Ahead of UFC on ESPN 69, which he headlines Saturday vs. Kamaru Usman, Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) acknowledged that while his resume might be title shot-worthy, that he might need an additional win due to an impending superfight between champion Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev. "In my personal opinion, this win is going to catapult me to be in a position of that No. 1 contender spot," Buckley told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. "Obviously, this is a business. Islam has done a lot in the lightweight division. He has a massive name. It only makes sense for the UFC to give him that opportunity to fight for the belt. With all that being said, I'm going to let my performance speak for itself because a lot of things happen within this fight business that yet again we cannot predict. With that being said, if (an additional fight offer) does happen, Buck going to be ready for this opportunity when it comes calling." If it does align that Buckley is next for the winner of Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC), he thinks only one of those options would actually come to fruition. "I truly believe if Islam was able to win that 170 title, he done everything he needed to do," Buckley said. "What? We going to stick around and potentially lose that winning streak? I don't think so. I think he's really trying to cement his name. It's really just kind of a legacy pass. Then once he wins that welterweight belt, my man is going to retire at the end of the day. That's my opinion." "I would love it, but I don't think Islam would. I truly believe if Islam was able to win that 170 title, he done everything he needed to do. What? We going to stick around and potentially lose that winning streak? I don't think so. I think he's really trying to cement his name. It's really just kind of a legacy pass. Then once he wins that welterweight belt, my man is going to retire at the end of the day. That's my opinion." Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) is Buckley's most high-profile test to date. It comes following a red-hot 2024 for Buckley, during which he defeated Vicente Luque, Nursulton Ruziboev, Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington. Following the Covington win, Buckley called for Usman – and he's pleased the UFC liked his idea. "Yessir. I'm talking about 2024 was a massive year for me, especially with getting all the fights I've been asking for, right?" Buckley said. "Getting opportunities, especially with Vicente Luque, with 'Wonderboy' (Stephen Thompson), even with Kamaru Usman – me, shouting his name out. Now they blessing us now with this fight. With this opportunity, man, that I'm getting. I just think this is a perfect moment for myself to show up and show out. Really, the reason why these callouts have been successful is the fans. Every time I call out these fighters, the fans want to see it. The UFC has actually been listening to the fans and making sure these fights happen." Usman, 38, has not competed in nearly two years. He's on a three-fight skid that began when he was knocked out by Leon Edwards. While it's uncertain where Usman is in his career, Buckley said he thinks the former champion hasn't regressed much. "To be honest with you, I don't think there's no difference from the Kamaru of old and the Kamaru of now," Buckley said. "I think it's the same fighter, which I believe is still dangerous and a person who can still give a lot of guys a lot of problems at the welterweight division. You realize losing to a person like Leon, who obviously took his belt and who obviously was a champion at the moment. Then also, Usman being able to go out on 10 days' notice and fight Khamzat, you've got to respect that. Even with him taking those Ls, I really feel like it wasn't much of a loss for him, as it was a setback. With that being said, he's been able to fine-tune his technique, as he says, and be able to work on whatever injuries he's got. So I'm just expecting the best version of himself when he steps out there."
