Tag: UFC 314

UFC 314 ‘Embedded,’ No. 3: Diego Lopes, Alexander Volkanovski face off at street art museum

Ahead of UFC 314 in Miami, headliners Diego Lopes and Alexander Volkanovski have their first fight week faceoff.

The UFC is back in South Florida for UFC 314, its fourth pay-per-view of the calendar year, and the popular “Embedded” fight week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.

UFC 314 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami.

In the headliner, former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (26-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) takes on Diego Lopes (27-6 MMA, 6-1 UFC) for the belt vacated when Ilia Topuria moved up to lightweight. In the co-feature, Michael Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) takes on Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at lightweight. Plus, former Bellator all-time great and two-division champ Patricio Freire (36-7 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his UFC debut against Yair Rodriguez (19-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC).

The third episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:

Pitbull arrives in Miami for his UFC debut; Michael Chandler gets a haircut; Jean Silva and his team race go karts; Paddy Pimblett trains outdoors before going to the Miami Heat game; Alexander Volkanovski cooks dinner for his team; Michael Chandler wraps up training in Deerfield; Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes come face to face.

Previous UFC 314 ‘Embedded’ episodes:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Paddy Pimblett wary of ‘dirty bastard’ Michael Chandler, will warn referee to watch for fouls at UFC 314

Paddy Pimblett sees Michael Chandler as a dirty fighter and plans to warn the referee to watch for potential fouls at UFC 314.

MIAMI – [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] has been accused in the past of not playing by the rules, and [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] agrees with those claims.

Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) meet in the co-main event of UFC 314 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) on Saturday at Kaseya Center. Paddy “The Baddy” has come across Chandler and had very positive interactions with him. However, he’s weary that won’t be that way in the cage come fight night.

“He’s the nicest man in the world outside the cage, and when he gets in there he’s a dirty bastard, isn’t he?” Pimblett told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC 314 media day on Wednesday. “I always say if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying, so I understand what he’s trying to do. He wants to win. That’s the main thing when it comes to this game, but yeah, I probably will mention the referee in the back like, ‘If he’s going to grab my gloves, I’m going to say it. If he tries to poke me in the eye and stuff like that.'”

Most recently, when Chandler fought Charles Olivera in November at UFC 309, the former Bellator champion was accused of intentionally eye-poking and hitting Oliveira on the back of the head.

Pimblett hopes Keith Peterson, who refereed Oliveira-Chandler 2, doesn’t handle his bout this Saturday.

“That one against Charles when he punched him in the back of the head about nine times or something and ref, I hope that’s not my referee. Just put it that way,” Pimblett said. “I hope I get a good ref like Goddard or Herzog. I don’t want to have a ref that’s just going to let me get rabbit punched in the back of the head consistently.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

In Christ’s name, Bryce Mitchell relishes UFC 314 fight vs. Jean Silva – and says ‘bet the farm’

Bryce Mitchell made it clear during UFC 314 media day that he loves Jesus – and he can’t wait to smash Jean Silva’s face in.

MIAMI – UFC featherweight [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] insists he isn’t a Nazi, despite his recent pro-Adolf Hitler stance suggesting he’s at least a Nazi sympathizer, and he has Jesus in his heart.

Mitchell especially emphasized that last part during Wednesday’s UFC 314 media day, ahead of his highly anticipated fight with [autotag]Jean Silva[/autotag], as he invoked Jesus’ name repeatedly throughout his roughly 15-minute session with reporters.

“I know what I know, and I love the world,” Mitchell said. “I’ve never told anybody that I hated them because that’s against Jesus. That’s against what I believe in.”

Mitchell vs. Silva isn’t exactly a matchup of top featherweight contenders, with Silva (15-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) unranked and Mitchell (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) No. 13 in the official 145-pound rankings. And yet, they’re receiving third billing on Saturday night’s UFC 314 card at Kaseya Center (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).

Why that is isn’t hard to figure out.

Mitchell made his controversial pro-Hitler remarks Jan. 30, which drew an uncharacteristic chiding from UFC CEO Dana White. Roughly four weeks later on Feb. 26, the fight between Mitchell and Silva was announced, with fans viewing it as the UFC “feeding” Mitchell to Silva, whose four UFC fights have ended in knockout wins. A heated press conference last month, with Silva taunting Mitchell, only built the fight even bigger.

Mitchell admits he’s definitely feeling the hype – and finds comfort in the Lord.

“I know that this is the biggest fight of my life,” Mitchell said. “You know it, everybody watching knows it, and that’s just God’s plan. I couldn’t have made this fight bigger if I tried myself. This is the Spirit leading me into this. There’s nothing that I could’ve done to sell this fight. God put this fight together, and God’s purpose for me is to be up here and perform.”

Mitchell continued, “He says that he loves Jesus, but he calls himself Lord, and he doesn’t act like he loves Jesus. He doesn’t treat me with respect, so I go based off of that. Based off my interactions with him, he doesn’t have Jesus in his heart because he treats me like total sh*t. …

“I think his feelings are very ill, and it’s not gonna be fun when he’s getting his face smashed in.”

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Mitchell, who’s 2-2 in his past four fights with losses to Ilia Topuria and Josh Emmett, is coming off a knockout win over Kron Gracie this past December. Mitchell enters UFC 314 as a betting underdog, with DraftKings listing him +215 and Silva a -265 favorite.

As far as Mitchell is concerned, nobody should feel shy about betting on him.

“I believe this is a great time for all my friends to bet and make a tremendous amount of money off of me,” Mitchell said. “Go ahead, bet the farm. This is the best odds that I’ve had in a long time. If you’re a betting man, cash your bet.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Chael Sonnen: Alexander Volkanovski ‘fighting for his career’ at UFC 314

Chael Sonnen sees UFC 314 as more than just another title shot for Alexander Volkanovski. It’s a do-or-die situation.

[autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] sees UFC 314 as a do-or-die situation for [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag].

Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) meets Diego Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for the vacant featherweight title in Saturday’s main event at Kaseya Center from Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+). While Volkanovski has an opportunity to reclaim the UFC featherweight title, a loss could also be detrimental to his career.

“Volkanovski’s name popping up with the right kind of loss, and I’m talking about if he gets laid out or he gets stopped, which is Lopes’ greatest path to victory by the way, people are going to be calling for retirement,” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier. “That’s going to give him four losses out of his last five. It’s going to be over a number of years, spreading over a couple of different weight classes.

“I don’t take a pride in that, but when I’m trying to look at it and analyze it, and think about who’s got the pressure, and pressure matters. Guys like you and I talk about pressure all the time, but we forget to explain it. The reason why that matters is pressure creates fatigue, and in a sport that’s built around exhaustion, you don’t want to be the one to get tired first. I think that Volk is not only fighting for a world title, I think he’s fighting for his career.”

Volkanovski will look to rebound after back-to-back knockout losses to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria. After losing his featherweight title to Topuria, who later vacated the belt, Volkanovski opted to take more than a year off to recover.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Daniel Cormier explains why Michael Chandler under most pressure at UFC 314

Bottom line? Daniel Cormier says Michael Chandler cannot afford to “lose to the next generation guy” in Paddy Pimblett.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] believes [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] has the most to lose at UFC 314.

Former Bellator champion Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) takes on Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in Saturday’s five-round co-headliner (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Kaseya Center in Miami. Cormier argues that Chandler’s four losses in the UFC came to to big names and former champions. But if Chandler loses to rising contender Pimblett, Cormier says that would set him back in a big way.

“I asked you earlier if the most pressure was on Volk, it’s not, and I said I believe Chandler has more pressure,” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “You want me to tell you why? Michael Chandler has found himself in a very, very hard-to-reach bit of company. He’s that guy that, win or lose, nothing really affects him, right? If he wins, people go, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ Knocked out Dan Hooker, kicked Tony Ferguson in the face. If he loses – man, him and Charles Oliveira, he had him. It was this close, about to become the champion, Charles got him.

“Eh, not that big of a deal. Him and Dustin Poirier, he loses. ‘Oh, that was a great fight,’ but Dustin got the job done, submitted him. He fought Justin Gaethje, that was a tremendous fight, but Gaethje won. Charles Oliveira, he stood up with him and slammed him backwards. What I’m getting at, Chael, is Michael Chandler has fought in the UFC six times. He’s won twice. If he loses again, now you’re not losing to Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira. You’re losing to the next generation. You cannot lose to the next generation guy.”

After waiting more than a year to fight Conor McGregor – a matchup that was booked for UFC 303 last June but scrapped when McGregor withdrew – Chandler moved on by running things back with Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 this past November. He lost the bout by unanimous decision.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Alexander Volkanovski shows off UFC 314 custom fight shorts

At UFC 314, Alexander Volkanovski will be sporting custom fight shorts featuring Greek fonts, a Macedonian flag and more.

[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] will be wearing a custom fight kit for his main event title fight at UFC 314.

This Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami, Volkanovski (26-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) will take on Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight title.

On Tuesday, the promotion revealed Volkanovski’s custom shorts and the former champion explained the details of the kit himself before trying it on. The green shorts feature Volkanovski’s nickname, “The Great,” in a Greek font, along with a Macedonian flag and floral touches.

Check out a video of the moment below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DIM0bldu6W3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Volkanovski will be competing in his 10th consecutive title fight, while Lopes (27-6 MMA, 6-1 UFC) gets his first championship opportunity. The main event title fight tops a 13-fight card, which also features key matchups like Michael Chandleer vs. Paddy Pimblett, Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva, and Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Freire.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Henry Cejudo ‘smelling an upset’ in UFC 314 co-main event

Henry Cejudo admits Paddy Pimblett is better than he initially thought.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] admits [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] is better than he initially thought.

Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) takes on former title challenger [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) in Saturday’s five-round UFC 314 co-headliner (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Kaseya Center in Miami.

Although Pimblett is a slight betting favorite over Chandler, Cejudo would consider it an upset if he’s able to beat the former multiple-time Bellator champion – and he thinks he will.

“I’m smelling an upset,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “Paddy Pimblett, I think he’s going to bring in the grappling. I think he might pull guard on this dude. His hands are not bad, either. I also think he can force Michael Chandler to do something in the bottom. If he cannot take Michael Chandler down, he’s more likely going to have to do that.

“But I just feel like Paddy Pimblett, he’s a lot better than what I thought and what he was able to do to Bobby Green, his transitional stuff. We’ve got to put some respect on that dude’s name, and he’s only gotten better, bro. I just feel like with Michael Chandler, I think the UFC knows what they’re doing. They’re doing a five rounder. Like, think about it. I think Paddy Pimblett is a lot better than what we think, and I’m smelling an upset here.”

Looking at the landscape of the lightweight division, Cejudo sees big implications for Pimblett with a win.

“I do believe that this, a win over Michael Chandler, could put him in a really good position,” Cejudo continued. “He could be one fight away from fighting for the title.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Jon Anik: UFC 314 win would cement Alexander Volkanovski as most decorated 145-pound champ

UFC commentator Jon Anik thinks Alexander Volkanovski can separate himself from every other featherweight with a win over Diego Lopes.

[autotag]Jon Anik[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] can separate himself from every other featherweight at UFC 314.

Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) and [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will compete for the vacant title in Saturday’s main event at Kaseya Center from Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+).

The former five-time defending featherweight champion will look to reclaim his title after losing it to Ilia Topuria by knockout at UFC 298. If Volkanovski is successful, Anik sees him solidifying his status as the greatest featherweight of all time.

“The way you and I and others feel about Diego Lopes, beating a prime Diego Lopes right now to regain the throne on the backend of everything that Volkanovski has done, for me, would make him cemented as the most decorated featherweight champion of all time,” Anik told MMA Junkie. “I think it’s hard when you company anyone to Jose Aldo, because I can barely be in the room with the guy, I get so star struck. I’ve called basically Volkanovski’s entire career.”

Jose Aldo faced a similar situation to Volkanovski. “The King of Rio” defended his UFC featherweight title seven times in his first reign and was able to claim the interim title – which was later promoted to an undisputed title after beating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200.

But Anik sees Volkanovski defeating Lopes topping that.

“We’ll see what happens,” Anik said. “If he can get by Diego Lopes, I would have a hard time arguing Jose Aldo.”

Volkanovski will look to rebound after back-to-back knockout losses to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Topuria. Not only is he up against the statistic of fighters being 35 and older having a low win percentage, but fighters entering title bouts off back-to-back losses are 0-5.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what version of Volkanovski shows up here,” Anik said. “I think one segment of the fan base and the pundit base who believes this time off is going to result in a prime Alexander Volkanovski showing up, and that maybe he didn’t lead the league in MMA miles per UFC. Then another segment of people feel like he’s in the twilight of his career.

“And that’s why they play the games. I tend to lean more towards we’re going to get a prime Volkanovski and the issue might just be that Diego Lopes is an absolute killer. I just feel like the vibe I’m getting from Volk, the preparation, the time off – I think he’s going to perform as good as ever. Not sure it’ll be enough. We’ll find out.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Michael Bisping wonders if Patricio Freire can overcome ‘miles on the clock’ at UFC 314

Michael Bisping questions if Patricio Freire has suffered too much damage to impact his UFC 314 performance.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] questions if [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] has suffered too much damage to impact his UFC 314 performance.

Freire (36-7 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his octagon debut against former interim featherweight champion [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Saturday’s main card opener at Kaseya Center from Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+).

Freire has had a long-tenured career at Bellator, capturing both the featherweight and lightweight titles simultaneously. Although “Pitbull” has a wealth of experience and standout wins throughout his career, the 37-year-old has lost two of his past three fights – one of them by first-round knockout.

“Can the old guy get it done? Patricio ‘Pitbull,’ 37 years old coming over from Bellator, where I think he was a four-time champion,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Biggest win probably (was) when he knocked out ‘Iron’ Mike Chandler in the very first round, vicious right hand. He’s got good jiu-jitsu, but he’s 37 years old. There’s a lot of wear and tear, there’s a lot of miles on the clock, and that’s not surprising when you look at the amount of experience.

“Forty-three professional fights, 36 wins, seven losses, but he has been knocked out twice. However, when you’ve fought that many times, there’s no problem with that. Of course, he’ll be taking on the one and only Yair Rodriguez, one of Mexico’s finest. This man is not to be underestimated. He fought for the belt before against Alexander Volkanovski, didn’t go his way, got stopped in the third round, and then he got stopped again against Brian Ortega. He’s trying to prove is he still relevant in the division.”

Outside of Movsar Evloev, it’s muddy waters at the top of the featherweight division. That’s why Bisping thinks the next title challenger could emerge from this matchup.

“Are either of these guys going to be the next man to fight for the featherweight strap because guess what? That’s what’s at stake here,” Bisping continued. “One of these guys might be the next person to fight for the belt because Volkanovski wants to be active – that’s if he gets the job done.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

UFC 314 ‘Embedded,’ No. 2: Airboating through the Everglades with Volk

Ahead of UFC 314 in Miami, Alexander Volkanovski takes a trip with his team through the Everglades to spot alligators.

The UFC is back in South Florida for UFC 314, its fourth pay-per-view of the calendar year, and the popular “Embedded” fight week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.

UFC 314 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami.

In the headliner, former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (26-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) takes on Diego Lopes (27-6 MMA, 6-1 UFC) for the belt vacated when Ilia Topuria moved up to lightweight. In the co-feature, Michael Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) takes on Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at lightweight. Plus, former Bellator all-time great and two-division champ Patricio Freire (36-7 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his UFC debut against Yair Rodriguez (19-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC).

The second episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:

Alex Volkanovski and team have a hibachi dinner; Diego Lopes eats pizza and watches fights; Jean Silva gets driven to the airport by a friend to start his trip to Miami; Yair Rodriguez has boxing training in a place where legends were made; Alex Volkanovski looks for alligators on an airboat; Paddy Pimblett relaxes on a yacht; Michael Chandler grapples with Gilbert Burns.

Previous UFC 314 ‘Embedded’ episodes:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.