MIAMI — Title fights are nothing new to Alexander Volkanovski.
His featherweight bout early Sunday morning against Diego Lopes was his 10th championship fight in a row, but Volkanovski had been in a slump in which he had lost three of his past four matches.
He left little doubt against Lopes at UFC 314, winning by unanimous decision. Two judges scored the fight 49-46 and the other had it 48-47.
“It’s good to be back,” Volkanovski said. “I promised my girls I would bring the belt back to them. It doesn’t matter about bringing the belt back. The message was a lot of people counted me out.”
Volkanovski (27-4) had successfully defended his belt four times before moving up a weight class and losing to Israel Makhachev on Feb. 11, 2023. Then, after reclaiming the featherweight title five months later over Yair Rodriguez, Volkanovski lost back-to-back matches.
Now he has the championship back.
President Donald Trump, a longtime friend of UFC President and CEO Dana White and a fan of the sport, watched from the front row. Shaquille O’Neal approached Trump and shook his hand. Cabinet officials Tulsi Gabbard, Marco Rubio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also were in attendance as was X (formerly Twitter) owner and White House adviser Elon Musk.
In the co-main event, No. 12 lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett continued his UFC rise with a technical knockout of No. 7 Michael Chandler at 3:07 of the third round. Pimblett, a 30-year-old from Liverpool, England, has won all seven of his bouts since moving to the organization, giving him a 23-3 record overall.
“I want that world title,” Pimblett said. “Some say I’ll never be champ, I’ll never get run, I’ll never be in the top 10. But what now?”
At nearly 39, Chandler has some decisions to making after winning just two of his most recent seven bouts. He is 23-10.
Featherweight Bryce Mitchell, who fought for the first time since praising Adolf Hitler and denying the Holocaust on a podcast, was also on…
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