Just as it has each of the last two years, Miami’s Kaseya Center will play host to a loaded pay-per-view fight card featuring critically important matchups across myriad divisions, with some captivating contests sure to entertain mixed in alongside of them. It’s a tremendous slate featuring a host of all-action talents, and promises to be another thrilling night of action inside the Octagon. Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes face off in Saturday night’s main event with the vacant UFC featherweight title hanging in the balance. This weekend marks Volkanovski’s first action since losing the title to Ilia Topuria last February at UFC 298. After fighting four times in 360 days and getting knocked out in consecutive contests, the Australian legend pressed pause and reset all at once, backing away for a little over a year in order to make a run at reclaiming the throne he occupied from over four years.
There are so many questions that will be answered in this fight, on both sides, and the reality is that it’s one of those contests where numerous possibilities for how it plays out are all realistic. The UFC 314 co-main event takes place in the lightweight division, with perennial contender Michael Chandler stepping in opposite British fan favorite Paddy Pimblett. After patiently waiting for a fight with Conor McGregor that never materialized, Chandler ended a two-year hiatus last November at UFC 309, landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in a second meeting with Charles Oliveira. The soon-to-be 39-year-old is just 2-4 in six UFC starts, but those setbacks have all come against competitors that have held some type of championship gold in the past.
Through his first four years competing inside the Octagon, “Paddy the Baddy” has posted a 6-0 record with four finishes, forcing his way into the Top 15 in the process. Each time out, the Liverpool man continues to prove his critics wrong and perform, most recently having put King Green to sleep with a slick first-round triangle choke submission at UFC 304 last July. This is honestly the perfect matchup for each man at this stage of things because it’s going to tell us so much about where each stands and what the future may hold. Bryce Mitchell and Jean Silva face off in the middle of Saturday night’s pay-per-view main card, with a place in the thick of the chase in the featherweight division on the line. A mainstay in the rankings for the last couple years, Mitchell has alternated wins and losses dating back to the start of 2022 when he bested Edson Barboza. After getting thumped by Josh Emmett at the close of 2023, the former Ultimate Fighter contestant rebounded with a third-round knockout win over Kron Gracie last December, advancing to 17-3 overall in the process.
Silva picked up right where he left off to begin his 2025 campaign, scoring a first-round stoppage win over Melsik Baghdasaryan in Seattle to move to 4-0 in the UFC and extend his overall winning streak to a dozen. He called out Mitchell during his time on the mic following the victory, and now gets his wish, looking to register a fifth victory in 16 months to force his way into the Top 15. Former interim champ Yair Rodriguez welcomes long-time Bellator titleholder Patricio Pitbull to the Octagon for the first time in the third of UFC 314’s trio of captivating main card featherweight pairings. Rodriguez has dropped back-to-back contests since claiming the interim title back at UFC 284, coming up short in his bid to unify the belts at UFC 290 before getting submitted by Brian Ortega in their rematch in Mexico City last February. The ever-dangerous Mexican contender has shown many times that he’s capable of elite efforts and breathtaking performances, and it’s going to take another one here in order to get things moving in the right direction again.
Reyes endured a gnarly two-year stretch that saw him drop four straight contests, beginning with his debated title fight loss to Jon Jones before spending the whole of 2023 on the sidelines. He returned to action and the win column last June, stopping Dustin Jacoby, and then followed it up with a second-round win over Anthony Smith at UFC 310 in December. Don't miss a moment of UFC 314: Volkanovski vs Lopes, live from Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida on April 12, 2025. Prelims start at 8pm ET/5pm PT, while the main card kicks off live on PPV at 10pm ET/7pm PT.
