UFC 314 LIVE: Pimblett vs Chandler and Volkanovski vs Lopes updates and results

In his last bout, a second career loss to Charles Oliveira, Chandler faced accusations of being a dirty fighter – not for the first time.

“I mean, the narrative is tough, man,” Chandler told MMA Fighting this week. “People don’t really know me. Unless you’re in my inner circle, you don’t know who I truly am outside of [being] in front of the camera.

“People have their sneaky suspicions that I play nice in front of the camera, and I’m a bad guy behind the camera. You’re always going to have those accusations, right?

“But I know who I am, and I know who I am at my core; I’m a guy who tries to do things right, tries to treat people right, do things with honor and respect. So, the cheating narrative is a little tough for me, but also, it’s all part of the court of public opinion, man.”

Much more from Chandler here, plus Pimblett’s take on the matter:

Another early prelim done, another stoppage!

A corker of a first round, before Marco Tulio scores a TKO of Tresean Gore in the second frame.

Credit to Gore for his toughness, but Tulio was styling on him at times!

Marco Tulio def. Tresean Gore via second-round TKO (strikes, 3:16)

While Volkanovski vs Lopes came as a slight surprise, so did Chandler vs Pimblett – tonight’s co-main event.

“In this sport, things move fast,” Chandler said in February. “There’s a lot of stuff going on in the division, it’s a big summer for the lightweight division.

“And after the last fight – one of the most disappointing losses of my career – I wanted to get right back on the horse, get back in the Octagon.

“So, here we go. I like the match-up – love the match-up actually. I respect Paddy, I think he’s a skilled fighter, I think he’s still got a bright future, but I think he’s gonna run into a buzzsaw called Michael Chandler on 12 April.

“As always, I will be the most entertaining guy that steps inside the Octagon that night. I will have everybody on their feet, I will have everybody on the edge of their seat, and – in typical Chandler fashion – we’re going out there with one goal in mind: that’s to separate our opponent from consciousness.”

Speaking of Topuria… In a new podcast appearance, he has discussed his career UFC earnings and revealed when he plans to retire from mixed martial arts – as he seeks big fights and major paydays before hanging up his gloves.

Explaining his decision to vacate at featherweight, Topuria told Men’s Health Spain recently: “I know I’m not going to cut weight right now, and I don’t want to hold up an entire division.

The first fight of the early prelims is in the books!

Nora Cornolle secures a second-round submission of Hailey Cowan, sinking in a rear naked choke and getting the stoppage at 1:52 of the round!

So, how did we get here, with Volkanovski vs Lopes set to crown a new featherweight champion?

It started with Topuria vacating the belt in February, as he eyes a move up to lightweight – and a shot at the gold in that division.

“We originally thought it was gonna be Ilia or Lopes,” Volk said. “I was just preparing for Ilia, because we did the face-off [in the cage, after Topuria beat Max Holloway in October].

“Then I was getting told, ‘We’re not exactly sure,’ so that’s when we were like, ‘Alright, something may be changing.’ But I’ve been preparing for April, Miami, for a while now. I’ve had a pretty long camp already.

“Lopes, obviously a dangerous dude,” Volkanovski said. “A bit of a different match-up to Ilia […] I’m feeling great, and I’m only gonna get better from here, so that’s a scary thing – especially for Lopes.

“I think Lopes is in for a very, very hard fight. He’s a gamer, he’s a great dude, I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

Volkanovski – 4/6; Lopes – 6/5

Chandler – 11/8; Pimblett – 4/7

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The card will air live on TNT Sports in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. Discovery+ will also air the action in the UK.

In the US, ESPN+ will stream the event live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass.

Alex Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes (vacant featherweight title)

Michael Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett (lightweight, five rounds)

Yair Rodriguez vs Patricio Pitbull (featherweight)

Bryce Mitchell vs Jean Silva (featherweight)

Nikita Krylov vs Dominick Reyes (light-heavyweight)

Dan Ige vs Sean Woodson (featherweight)

Yan Xiaonan vs Virna Jandiroba (women’s strawweight)

Jim Miller vs Chase Hooper (lightweight)

Darren Elkins vs Julian Erosa (featherweight)

Sedriques Dumas vs Michal Oleksiejczuk (middleweight)

Sumudaerji vs Mitch Raposo (flyweight)