MIAMI – Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes will decide a new featherweight champion at UFC 314, and on Thursday, they got to size each other up officially for the first time on fight week.
With Ilia Topuria vacating the belt for a move to lightweight, former divisional kingpin Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) now meets the red-hot Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the headliner of Saturday event at Kaseya Center (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+).
Volkanovski, 36, and Lopes, 30, have been respectful throughout the build to the contest, and that didn’t change at the pre-fight press conference. They were intense during the staredown, however, with a clear understanding of what’s at stake this weekend.
