Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes had the first faceoff for their UFC 314 vacant featherweight title bout.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] and [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] will decide a new featherweight champion at UFC 314. Thursday, the pair came face-to-face for the first time since their matchup was announced.
With Ilia Topuria deciding to give up the title and move up to lightweight, former champ Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) will clash with Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the headliner of the April 12 event, which takes place at Kaseya Center in Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+).
Volkanovski and Lopes were largely cordial during Friday’s news conference, though the Australian former champion poked fun at the Brazilian’s hair. When it came time to face off, there were more smiles than hard feelings. Volkanovski ripped his shirt off while Lopes kept his cowboy attire on. The two shook hands before they went their separate ways.
Diego Lopes towers over Alexander Volkanovski in the first faceoff for their #UFC314 vacant featherweight title fight. pic.twitter.com/wDZC9hCUzn
The entire stacked UFC 314 main card, headlined by Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes, will attend a Thursday press conference.
LAS VEGAS – The first UFC 314 press conference takes place Thursday, and you can watch a live stream of the event in the video above. The press conference takes place at Michelob Ultra Arena.
In advance of the loaded event, which takes place April 12 at Kaseya Center in Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+), a number of notable athletes, including [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) and [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who meet for the vacant featherweight title left behind by Ilia Topuria, in the main event.
Here’s what you need to know about the UFC 314 press conference.
What time does the UFC 314 press conference start?
The UFC 314 press conference starts at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.
Who’s taking part in the UFC 314 press conference?
Ten fighters from the five main-card bouts are slated to participate in the UFC 314 press conference: Volkanovski, Lopes, [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag], [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag], [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag], [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag], [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag], [autotag]Jean Silva[/autotag], [autotag]Geoff Neal[/autotag] and [autotag]Carlos Prates[/autotag].
It’s unclear if UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] will oversee the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.
Movsar Evloev is confident in his prediction for the featherweight title fight at UFC 314.
[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag] is confident in his prediction for the featherweight title fight at UFC 314.
[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) takes on [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for the vacant 145-pound belt in the April 12 main event at Kaseya Center in Miami.
Volkanovski has been knocked out by Ilia Topuria and UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in his past two fights. But if he can recover and return to the form which saw him defend his featherweight title five times, Evloev (19-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) thinks he beats Lopes handily.
“I think if Volkanovski has 50 percent of his prime shape, he can beat this guy easy,” Evloev told Home of Fight. “I’ll be next for him, and we will see.”
Many people think Evloev was snubbed out of the title picture, but despite holding a recent win over Lopes, the undefeated contender isn’t entirely surprised.
“No, but people who are rooting for the sport, they were waiting for me as a contender for the title,” Evloev said. “But now it’s a little bit of a different time because people need more trash (talk), dirty stuff, some finishes. Even if you lose 10 times but you have finishes, you have more of a chance to get a title shot.”
Volkanovski said he’s willing to make a quick turnaround and offer Evloev a title shot if victorious at UFC 314.
“We’ll see what the UFC will say about me or about his next opponent, but I’m ready,” Evloev said. “I’m ready since I beat (Aljamain Sterling) behind you, and I’m still waiting for a fight or fight news, but nothing yet. Nobody is accepting to fight against me.”
Diego Lopes disagrees with critics who claim Volkanovski is past his prime entering UFC 314.
Many today think [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag]’s best days are behind him. That’s an opinion that his upcoming opponent [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] doesn’t share.
The vacant UFC featherweight title will be up for grabs on April 12, as Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) takes on Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in a five-round clash in the main event of UFC 314. These two were booked in response to Ilia Topuria’s decision to vacate his title and move up to 155 pounds.
The last time Volkanovski was seen in action, he was knocked out by Topuria at UFC 298 in February 2024. The defeat put the now 36-year-old on a two-fight losing streak and 1-3 in his past four. The two defeats outside the Topuria featherweight title loss came at lightweight against champion Islam Makhachev.
Lopes finds this perceived rut to be deceiving and doesn’t agree with those who claim Volkanovski is past his prime.
“I think it’s a wrong opinion by people,” Diego told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “A lot of people are forgetting what Volkanovski has done in the division. We’re talking about him getting knocked out by Ilia, and that certainly is going to take away, but if we look at the fight outside of that, he was having the better moments with his distance, his jabs, and all that. He’s a guy that only has one loss in the division, and that was his last fight, which was a title fight. So throughout his entire career, and he’s got like 30 fights, he only has one loss at 145 pounds.
“I’m by no means looking at him past his prime because he has a ton of experience, has fought against the best in the world, and we all know what he’s capable of. I’m waiting for the best version of Volkanovski on April 12.”
Expecting a game version of Volkanovski, Lopes is excited to get his first crack at UFC gold. The Brazilian fighter has been on fire since entering the UFC. After losing to Movsar Evloev in a Fight of the Night bout in his debut, Lopes has won five straight, with his last being a dominant decision win over former title challenger Brian Ortega.
Lopes thinks fans will see the Volkanovski of old given the matchup, and expects a full on MMA fight at UFC 314.
“I think he’s going to come in with a lot of hunger,” Lopes said. “I think his fights prior to the one against Topuira, which was someone his size, all his fights have been with opponents that are bigger than him. We’ve seen how he looks for the pressure and looks to work his striking. I’ve seen he posted that he’s been working a ton on his wrestling and grappling game, so maybe he wants to mix things up, and have a complete game.”
Aljamain Sterling has a definitive prediction for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes at UFC 314.
[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] has a definitive prediction for [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] at UFC 314.
Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) takes on Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for the vacant featherweight belt in the April 12 main event at Kaseya Center in Miami.
Sterling traded barbs with Lopes and his manager on X after saying that Movsar Evloev deserved to be in the title fight more. But Sterling insists that his prediction of a dominant Volkanovski victory isn’t biased.
“I think Volkanovski is going to put the beats on Lopes,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “I would have said that more respectfully had him and his manager not tried to attack me as if I said anything disrespectful to them. I would have been more politically correct about it, but I truly do think Volk is going to put the beats on him. I’m going to give them the reason why Volk is going to whoop that ass. Volkanovski is coming with a vengeance. He is in phenomenal shape. What he does great vs. what Diego Lopes does great is not the same.
“Volk is super well rounded. He’s strong in every single department. Maybe not a submission specialist, but he’s very hip to the grappling game where Diego Lopes is a very good grappler in terms of submission threats, but when it comes to striking, he is an all-or-nothing guy in the first round. There is no pacing about Diego Lopes. The best fight he’s had so far to date where he’s looked technically composed and most technically sharp is the fight with Brian Ortega.”
Sterling went on to break down Lopes’ other UFC wins and how he wasn’t impressed with what he saw. He only gives Lopes a chance to beat Volkanovski early, otherwise he sees him getting drowned in the championship rounds.
“You watch a lot of his other fights, short notice with Dan Ige; Dan Ige is a dog, though,” Sterling said. “His fight with Sodiq Yusuff, I don’t really rate that one too much. No disrespect to Sodiq. He’s an all-or-nothing blitz type of fighter. He runs at you, sprints at you in the first minute or two, and if he clips you, he smells blood in the water, and he’s very, very good at finishing fights from there.
“If that is his game plan against Volkanovski, and he has no Plan B, Diego Lopes is going to lose this fight. There’s no other way to say it. He’s not going five rounds toe-to-toe with Alex Volkanovski. It’s just not happening. I never said he can’t clip Volk. His game plan is to get him out of there in Round 1 because if he doesn’t, the longer that fight goes, I think Volk does this (goes up), and Lopes does this (goes down) in a five-round fight.”
Check out the latest episode of “Overreaction Time” covering a HUGE week of fight bookings by the UFC.
The time for overreacting is here!
Check out the latest episode of “Overreaction Time” at noon ET/9 a.m. PT as host Simon Samano and MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn debate these “overreactions” on the following topics in mixed martial arts:
UFC Seattle: [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] will only hurt his legacy if he continues fighting.
Nobody should have a problem with [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]’s move to lightweight.
UFC 314: [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] faces more pressure than [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag].
UFC 314: [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] will prove if [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] is legit or all hype.
UFC 314: [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] is a perfect first test for [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag]’s debut.
UFC 315/UFC London: [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] caught a break, but [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] got shafted.
UFC 315: [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] is the best women’s fight we’ll get this year.
Diego Lopes says UFC’s reenforced stance against champ-vs.-champ fights led to Ilia Topuria vacating the featherweight title.
[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] claims the UFC is no longer willing to stage champion-vs.-champion fights, and that’s why [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] is giving up the featherweight title.
UFC CEO Dana White rocked the MMA world this week when he announced that Topuria would be giving up the 145-pound title because he thinks he’s cleaned out the division and is struggling to make the weight. As a result, Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will face Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) for the vacant belt in the main event of UFC 314 on April 12 at Kaseya Center in Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) has made no secrets about his desire to move to lightweight and challenge Islam Makhachev, but many wondered how it would materialize. According to Lopes, vacating the strap was an essential first step. He claims messaging from UFC brass indicated that Topuria getting a title shot at 155 pounds would not be in play unless he made a full commitment to the division.
“They were very clear to us that they said they are no longer giving a chance to jump from one weight class to another,” Lopes told ESPN in Spanish. “If you want to move up, you have to vacate your title. This is what the UFC has said to all the champions who are planning to move up a weight class. They will no longer have the status of double champion simultaneously.”
Diego Lopes spoke on UFC’s message to champions having to vacate their title if they look to move up #UFC314
There have only been limited instances of the UFC booking champion-vs.-champion fights over the course of its more than 30-year history. Only seven such matchups have occurred, and only three times (Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez, Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic, and Amanda Nunes vs. Cris Cyborg) did the winner emerge as a simultaneous two-division titleholder.
Outside of Nunes, there’s no situation where a UFC fighter spent a prolonged period as a dual-division champ, but the UFC seemingly doesn’t even want that to happen any more.
Lopes would’ve liked to see Topuria stick around the weight class and fight more of the contenders, but he understands the reasoning behind his decision and offered his full support.
“I think in the end, it’s up to each individual to decide,” Lopes said. “If (Ilia Topuria) feels he has nothing else to do in the division, well, he should move forward with his career. I know that in the division we have very good fighters that could give very good fights against him. We can even put him in some serious trouble or even defeat him. But if he feels that, because he defeated Max (Holloway) and (Alexander Volkanovski), who are legends in the division, his work his done, well, it’s fine. He has the right to believe. So go ahead.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.
Diego Lopes continues to put his focus on fighting Alexander Volkanovski next.
[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] continues to put his focus on fighting [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] next.
Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) confirmed that he won’t be fighting Yair Rodriguez, which was rumored for the UFC on ESPN 64 main event on March 29 in Mexico City.
“The fight with Yair never happened,” Lopes told Submission Radio. “UFC talked to me, ‘OK now you sit down, you stay here, relax. Maybe we do a big fight for you.’ I’m training, I’m staying ready for for one big fight. I need one big fight now. I’m No. 3 in the rankings. I think Max (Holloway) is out of the rankings, but moved to lightweight. I don’t know what’s happening in the division now.”
With UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria continuing to tease a potential lightweight move, streaking hot contender Lopes has pivoted his attention to a championship fight with Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC).
“If (Topuria) moves, I think I’m next for the title to face Volk,” Lopes said. “I think they vacate the belt, no? I don’t know if Ilia would be ready for 145, maybe October, September? I don’t know. Ilia, I think he’ll move to lightweight.”
If Topuria does indeed move to lightweight, Volkanovski pitched the idea of fighting Lopes at UFC 314.
“I think this makes sense, right? Because I’m No. 3, Alex is No. 1,” Lopes said. “Ilia has moved for lightweight. Who’s the next fight for the title? I don’t have one fight for the title. I think me, Alex is make sense for the fight. April for me is really good timing.”
Lopes, who’s coming off a dominant win over Brian Ortega at UFC 306, likes how he matches up against former champion Volkanovski.
“This is a great fight, I need it so much,” Lopes said. “Alex has a lot of experience in UFC. This guy, I think his last 10 fights were five rounds. The guy has a lot of experience, but it’s a good fight for me. I proved myself. I’m ready for the champ.”
Diego Lopes gives his opinion on UFC featherweight champ Ilia Topuria wanting to move up to lightweight.
[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] caused many reactions with his comments on wanting to leave the UFC featherweight division behind for a move up to lightweight.
UFC contender [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] was one of the many who were caught off guard by the 145-pound champion’s bold remarks. Lopes, who’s knocking on the door of a title shot at featherweight, doesn’t care if Topuria stays or leaves the division. However, he does find Topuria’s potential move premature.
“From my point of view, I think he has work to do in the division,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “We have several contenders that have their sight on him, and I’m one of those. I would like a fight against him, and if he stays in the division, that’s a fight that I’ll look for. But if he is really leaving, he needs to make that decision, and let’s see what happens with the division.”
Given Topuria’s success in winning and defending the UFC featherweight title, plus the number of rising contenders in the weight class, Lopes admits he was surprised by Topuria’s recent comments.
Still, Lopes is still not sold that the move is 100 percent happening next. But if it does come to fruition, he’d like for the UFC to match him uop against former champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag].
“I think those comments caught everyone by surprise since he had said he was going to defend his title against Volkanovski for his next fight,” Lopes explained.” But who knows, we don’t know what’s going to happen with the division, and we’re even asking the UFC what’s going to happen, and we haven’t gotten an answer, so maybe he’s losing his patience and that’s why he made that comments about wanting to move to 155 to see if something happens or UFC gives him an answer.
“If he truly is going to move up to 155, I’d like to fight against Volkanovski – whether it’s a title fight or not or an interim title. I’d want to fight him. If he’s going to be left without a fight, I’m here.”
Diego Lopes hopes a UFC showdown vs. Alexander Volkanovski is next on his agenda.
Can [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] insert himself into the immediate UFC featherweight title picture? He certainly hopes so.
Wednesday, Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) issued a challenge on X to former UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC), the fighter thought to be the next in line for current titleholder Ilia Topuria.
“@Alexandervolkanovski, if Ilia going to 155, let’s meet in the Octagon,” Lopes wrote. “You can pick the date and location.”
@alexvolkanovski , if Ilia going to 155, let’s meet in the Octagon. You can pick the date and location.
Lopes’ post comes after an interview surfaced where Topuria indicated he might seek a jump to lightweight for his next bout, in which he case he’d vacate the featherweight title. Topuria said the promotion indicated the promotion had mentioned April for a return date at a potential show in Miami.
Should the UFC follow through with the plan of Topuria vs. Volkanovski, it’s unclear where that leaves Lopes. For Topuria’s recent title defense vs. Max Holloway, Lopes weighed in as a backup fighter – something he could do again. However, hungry contenders Movsar Evloev and Jose Emmett are among others waiting in the wings, as well.
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(@Diegolopesmma)