Following a five-week break between pay-per-view events, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is back this weekend with UFC 314.

Let’s look at three of the must-see fights this weekend, starting with the main event of the evening:

Alexander Volkanovski (1) versus Diego Lopes (3):
In this main event, both men square off for the vacant featherweight championship. For some background, the former featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria, vacated the title in February after announcing his move to lightweight. Despite heading into his tenth straight title fight, former champion Alexander Volkanovski is on a two-loss streak, both defeats coming by knockout. His opponent, Diego Lopes, carries five straight wins with him into this title fight and has momentum on his side. While questions surround Volkanovski and if his glory days are over, the statistics say different. He lost his featherweight title to the young generational talent Ilia Topuria and lost two lightweight battles to the lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. Other than those three losses, he has dominated the entire featherweight division, and it is difficult to think this fight will be any different. While Lopez is the third-ranked featherweight, his decision win over Brian Ortega at UFC 306 in September 2024 raises questions about his readiness. This bout will define the current era in the UFC and Volkanovski’s career as a whole. Will the veteran prove he still has some gas left in the tank, or is it time for a new era in featherweight?

Michael Chandler (7) versus Paddy Pimblett (12):
This lightweight co-main event may have been surprising when announced. Michael Chandler spent the past three years chasing a fight with the UFC poster boy, Conor McGregor, and ultimately failing. In Chandler’s first fight back from a two-year layoff at UFC 309 in November 2024, he was dominated by Charles Oliveira. After the loss, Chandler dropped in the rankings, landing in the perfect position to face Paddy Pimblett. Since joining the UFC in 2021, Pimblett racked up six wins and finds himself ranked at number 12 in the lightweight division. He entered the UFC as this cocky Englishman who talked a lot of trash. After his close win against Jared Gordon at UFC 282 in 2022, it seems that he began to take things more seriously. While Chandler will be Pimblett’s toughest opponent yet, Pimblett continued to take on larger challenges each fight without missing a step. If he fights smart and takes advantage of Michael Chandler’s mistakes, which he seems to make every fight, the UFC lightweight division could be saying hello to a Scouser in the top 10.

Yair Rodriguez (5) versus Patricio Pitbull (NR)
The former UFC interim featherweight champion, Yair Rodriguez, will be welcoming debutant Patricio Pitbull to the UFC, though he isn’t a rookie. Pitbull is a former Bellator double champion, both at featherweight and lightweight. It is somewhat of a mystery regarding what the accomplished 37 year old has left to give to the fight game. This fight is truly a make-or-break for him as a win grants him a top-five spot in the featherweight rankings; a loss might be his sign to retire from the sport. Rodriguez sits on a two-fight loss streak and is in desperate need of a comeback win. He has only lost to top guys in the division, so it will be interesting to see how he does against a former champion from another organization. For years, the question has been: how well do champions from other organizations stack up against UFC fighters? As we hope to find that answer Saturday, it will be my first time watching Patricio Pitbull live alongside many other UFC fans around the world. This is a sleeper pick for the fight of the night.

These are just three of the 13 fights taking place on Saturday night. So, if you are a fight fan or want to see what it’s all about, tune in Saturday night to UFC 314 to see all the action.