UFC 314 is less than two days away. This week, Dana White‘s organization continues its spring schedule of events with the fourth premium event of 2025. Kaseya Center in Miami serves as the setting for the Saturday night card.
Live coverage can be seen wall-to-wall on ESPN+ and the ESPN networks inside the United States, kicking off with the early prelims at 6 pm ET/ 3 pm PT. The early prelims can also be seen on UFC Fight Pass.
Late prelims from the card follow at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT on ESPN and ESPN+ before closing out the night with the UFC 314 main card on pay-per-view at 10 pm ET/ 7 pm PT. All told, barring any 11th-hour postponements between now and the weekend, the final version of this weekend’s event features a full 13-fight card.
UFC 314 Main Event: No. 1 Contender Alexander Volkanovski vs. No. 3 Contender Diego Lopes (Vacant UFC Featherweight Championship)
Our focus on this day is the main card, and at the top of the bill on Saturday night is the battle for the Vacant UFC Featherweight Championship. No. 1 contender Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) will clash with No. 3 contender Diego Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC.)
Its winner succeeds now-former titleholder Ilia Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC), who has ceded the championship to try his luck at lightweight, as the king of the mountain at 145 lbs. This main event is an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close out the show.
Volkanovski enters UFC 314 having gone 2-3 over the course of his last five fights. He’s coming into the weekend on a two-fight skid, however.
14 months ago, he was on the losing end of a second-round knockout by way of a right hook from the aforementioned Ilia Topuria in Anaheim during the main event of UFC 298. He’s had more than a year to mull over what went wrong that winter’s night in southern California. Can he get back in the win column on Saturday?
In the other corner, Diego Lopes will be making the walk in UFC 314 on the strength of a 5-0 record in his last five fights. Back in September in the Vegas Sphere during UFC 306, he scored a unanimous decision victory after three rounds over Brian Ortega (16-4, 1 NC MMA, 8-4, 1 NC UFC).
He’s been on a hot streak heading into this weekend. To find the last time where Lopes didn’t get his hand raised in victory, you’d have to travel back to May 6, 2023.
That night, he dropped a unanimous decision to Movsar Evloev in UFC 288 from Newark, NJ. Only time will tell if he’s able to secure a career-defining win.
UFC 314 Co-Main Event: No. 7 Contender Michael Chandler vs. No. 12 Contender Paddy Pimblett
Immediately prior to the main attraction, the co-main event of the evening is a five-round showcase at lightweight. No. 7 contender Michael Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) meets up with No. 12 contender Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC).
Michael Chandler will be touching down in Miami with a mark of 1-4 in his last five fights. Last time out, he sustained a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Charles Oliveira (35-10, 1 NC MMA, 23-10, 1 NC UFC) after 25 minutes of action from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Chandler’s motto is a simple credo: “See you at the top!” If he bests Paddy Pimblett this weekend, he’ll take another step toward the top.
Pimblett, however, is a tough customer at the shop. This young man has yet to lose since joining the UFC’s active roster in September of 2021, coming into UFC 314 on an eight-fight winning streak dating back to March of 2020.
Most recently, he bested King Green (32-17-1, 1 NC MMA, 13-12-1, 1 NC UFC) with a first-round submission (triangle choke) in UFC 304 last July in London. This fight will undoubtedly be a “road game” for “The Baddy” on Saturday evening, but the stakes are high.
Should Pimblett win, he could find himself in the top-10 at 155 as soon as Monday morning.
UFC 314: No. 5 Contender Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Pitbull
Also on the UFC 314 main card is one of the most anticipated UFC debuts in some time. It’ll be a featherweight affair matching No. 5 contender Yair Rodriguez (19-5, 1 NC MMA, 10-5, 1 NC UFC) against Patricio Pitbull (36-7 MMA, UFC promotional debut.)
Yair Rodriguez comes into Saturday’s bout having gone 2-3 over the last five fights, but he’s on a downward trend of late, having dropped two bouts in a row. In February of last year, he was finished with a third-round arm-triangle choke submission by Brian Ortega during UFC Fight Night in Mexico City.
He’s a seasoned vet in the sport and a win this weekend could propel him to a shot at the title in his next contest. He’ll have to take down a former champion at 145 to get there, however.
Across the way, Patricio Pitbull will be making his first walk to the Octagon having posted a record of 3-2 over his last five appearances. Pitbull, formerly the featherweight titlist in the late Bellator MMA, defended the now-defunct promotion’s belt with a third-round knockout (strikes) of Jeremy Kennedy in the first Bellator Champions Series event in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
While this is Pitbull’s first fight in the UFC, the matchmakers could not have booked a better opponent for him. This contest has Fight of the Night potential written all over it.
Final Thoughts
Which main card fights are you looking forward to in UFC 314? Let us know in the comments.
