Alexander Volkanovski reclaims his throne beating Diego Lopes in back-and-forth war in UFC 314 main event

Alexander Volkanovski made history at UFC 314 after winning a back-and-forth war against Diego Lopes to reclaim the featherweight title in the main event.

The victory crowns Volkanovski as champion again and he becomes the first fighter over 35 years old to hold a UFC title in any division from 155 pounds or below. While he had to battle through some adversity, Volkanovski largely put on a vintage performance to outwork and outstrike Lopes across all five rounds.

The final tallies on the scorecards read 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 with Volkanovski becoming a two-time featherweight champion with the win.

“It’s good to be back,” Volkanovski said after having the title wrapped around his waist again. “I’ve never felt the love so much. I was saying all week, I said I promised my girls I would bring the belt back to them. I think the message was a lot of people counted me out, coming off two knocked out losses. Come back and beat a gun like Diego Lopes. It’s good to be back. Adversity is a privilege. This moment is incredible.

“This is shit people are going to write books about. There’s going to be movies. That type of shit. That’s what it’s all about.”

While it certainly wasn’t the outcome Lopes wanted, he still made a great showing for himself in his first opportunity at becoming a UFC champion. He made no excuses afterwards but promised he would climb that mountain again before his career is over.

“It was an honor to share the octagon with a guy like Alexander Volkanovski,” Lopes said. “But I’ll be back. This is a man who is so experienced in the UFC. I can see myself coming. I’m going to get better, I’m going to come back and I’m going to be a champion.”

A fast start helped Volkanovski set the tone for the fight after he blasted Lopes with a huge left hook during an early exchange that clearly rattled the first-time title challenger. Volkanovski followed that up with a takedown as he hammered away at Lopes, who looked like was getting overwhelmed without any answers for the former champion.

Volkanovski was really settling into a rhythm as he picked his shots from the outside while Lopes just wasn’t reacting with much offense of his own. Another huge punch from Volkanovski rocked Lopes again as he stumbled backwards towards the cage, although he was able to shrug off a takedown attempt that followed.

Just when it looked like Volkanovski was in complete control, Lopes cracked him with a shot that dropped the Australian to the ground momentarily. As Volkanovski got back up as the round ended, he looked visibly upset that he got caught by the punch that put him down.

While that was a disappointing end to the second round, Volkanovski recovered well and reset with a good strategy coming out in the third. Volkanovski snapped off some solid combinations including a stiff left hook that popped Lopes on the jaw.

Lopes was struggling to really get Volkanovski to engage with him in a brawl, which is exactly the kind of fight he wanted. It wasn’t until he finally stepped into a nice exchange when he snapped off a straight left followed by a right uppercut that wobbled Volkanovski and backed him off.

Volkanovski started wiping at his eye from the damage done and Lopes surged forward trying to potentially deliver a finish. While it was a tough position, Volkanovski stayed patient and never let Lopes really take advantage before he was able to return to his corner.

It was there Volkanovski told his coaches that his vision was impaired during the round, although he was finally able to see again. That clearly showed during the final five minutes as Volkanovski continued to stab at Lopes with a nasty lead jab while staying away from the power coming back at him.

Volkanovski’s volume and precision really paid dividends with Lopes still charging forward but he just wasn’t able to do as much damage. Across five rounds, Volkanovski just threw and landed more strikes while Lopes showed off an incredible chin but just wasn’t able to mount enough offense to get the victory.

It was an ultra-impressive showing from Volkanovski, who had doubts raised ahead of this fight for the first time in his UFC career off back-to-back knockout losses. Now he’s standing tall as champion again with a growing list of new contenders at featherweight champing at the bit to challenge him.