Alexander Volkanovsky has regained the Ultimate Combat Championship (UFC) featherweight championship after beating Diego Lopez by unanimous decision at UFC 314 in Miami, attended by President Donald Trump.
Two judges won a 49-46 fight, with the third being 48-47 as Australian mixed martial arts fighter won the title early on Sunday.
Volkanovski (27-4) had defended the belt four times before losing to Israeli Makhachev on February 11, 2023.
“It’s good to be back,” Volkanovsky said after the victory.
As for Lopez, he gave full respect to the champion, but he wanted the crowd to know that this wasn’t the end of the journey.
“It was an honor to share the Octagon with Alexander Volkanovsky,” Lopez said. “I’ll be back.”
Trump, a longtime friend of UFC president and CEO Dana White, was watching from the front row as well as a fan of the sport.
Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neill approached Trump and waved. Cabinet officials Tarsi Gabbard, Marco Rubio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were also present as X owners and White House adviser Elon Musk.
Volkanovski ruled the first three rounds despite being cut off under the right eye in the second and floored overhand in that round. However, Lopez’s gloves attacked after catching Volkanovsky’s other eye in the fourth round, but were unable to clean up him.
It set the fifth round and, except for a knockout, Volkanovsky appeared on the way to victory, despite Lopez having verbally challenged him for the majority of the fight and invited him to the box. On the contrary, the theatre, Volkanovsky was the attacker.
Volkanovski had hoped to win another shot at Ilia Topuria and revenge his loss at UFC 298 over a year ago.
Take on Volkanovsky with Stepped Lopez, the third-ranked challenger.
This was Volkanovski’s 10th consecutive title fight, a 36-year-old top-ranked candidate. The 30-year-old Rope was his first title match.
Volkanovski has finished a five-match winning streak for Lopes.
Volkanovski had many reasons to get to work. He took an extra layoff after losing to Toplia in February 2024. More than that, he had finished defeats in three of his past four fights.
All four battles occurred less than a year later, so he rested more.
In the co-main event, lightweight contender Paddy Pinblett continued this rise with a technical knockout from Michael Chandler after 3 minutes and 7 seconds in the third round. Plimbett, 30, from Liverpool, England, has won all seven matches since moving to the organization, giving him a 23-3 overall record.
“I want that world title,” Pinblett said. “Some people say I’ll never be a champion, I’ll never run, I’ll never be in the top 10. But what’s it now?”
At almost 39, Chandler has several decisions to make some decisions after winning just two of his last seven games. He’s 23-10.
Featherweight Blythe Mitchell, who praised Adolf Hitler and fought for the first time since denying the Holocaust on his podcast, was also on the card. He later retreated his comments, and while white people criticized Mitchell viciously, he did not discipline him.
Mitchell had little trials on Jean Silva in their featherweight fight. Silva won by submitting one minute left in the second round with a guillotine choke.
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