The UFC
314 card will have plenty of depth.
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In the evening’s co-headliner, Michael
Chandler will lock horns with Paddy
Pimblett in a five-round, non-title affair. Meanwhile, former
Bellator featherweight champ Patricio
Freire will make his promotional debut against Yair
Rodriguez in another featured clash. UFC CEO Dana White
announced the pairings on Wednesday night. UFC 314 takes place at
the Kaseya Center in Miami on April 12 and is headlined by a
showdown for the vacant featherweight title between Alexander
Volkanovski and Diego
Lopes.
Multiple other bouts, some previously reported, were also confirmed
for UFC 314: Geoff Neal
vs. Carlos
Prates at welterweight; Nikita
Krylov vs. Dominick
Reyes at light heavyweight; Dan Ige vs.
Sean
Woodson at featherweight; Xiaonan Yan
vs. Virna
Jandiroba at strawweight; Jim Miller
vs. Chase
Hooper at lightweight; Darren
Elkins vs. Julian
Erosa at featherweight; Sedriques
Dumas vs. Michal
Oleksiejczuk at middleweight; Mitch
Raposo vs. Su Mudaerji
at flyweight and Alberto
Montes vs. Robert Romero at featherweight.
Chandler has lost four of his last five UFC bouts. After spending
two years on the sidelines waiting for a Conor
McGregor fight that never came to fruition, the ex-Bellator
star returned at UFC 309, where he lost a rematch against Charles
Oliveira via unanimous decision.
A former Cage Warriors champion, Pimblett has kicked off his UFC
tenure with six straight triumphs. “The Baddy” earned a signature
triumph at UFC 304, when he submitted Bobby Green
in the opening stanza this past July.
Freire, 37, was perhaps the most accomplished fighter in Bellator
history, as he enjoyed multiple reigns atop the 145-pound weight
class. He last appeared at Bellator Champions Series Belfast, where
he defeated Jeremy
Kennedy via third-round TKO. Since then, “Pitbull” lobbied
repeatedly for his release from the PFL before his request was
granted, clearing the way for the Brazilian to sign with the
UFC.
Rodriguez will enter the matchup with Freire on a two-bout skid.
After falling to Alexander
Volkanovski via third-round TKO in a featherweight title bout
at UFC 290, “El Pantera” was submitted by Brian
Ortega in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 237.