Volkanovski claims featherweight belt at UFC 314 with unanimous decision over Lopes

MIAMI (AP) — 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 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 the card. He later backed off his comments and though White heavily criticized Mitchell, he didn’t discipline him.

Mitchell was little match for Jean Silva in their featherweight fight. Silva won by submission with a guillotine choke with 1:08 left in the second round.

Volkanovski, despite getting cut below his right eye in the second and being floored by an overhand right in that round, dominated the first three rounds. But Lopes' glove caught Volkanovski's other eye in the fourth round and then pounced, but failed to put him away.

That set up the fifth round and, barring a knockout, Volkanovski appeared on his way to victory even though Lopes spent much of the fight verbally challenging him and inviting him to box. Theatrics to the contrary, Volkanovski was the aggressor.

Volkanovski had hoped to get another shot at Ilia Topuria and avenge his loss from more than a year ago at UFC 298. But Topuria moved up to the lightweight division, leaving the featherweight class vacant.

In stepped Lopes, the third-ranked challenger, to take on Volkanovski, the 36-year-old from Australia. Lopes, a 30-year-old from Brazil, was in first title bout.

“Maybe I came up short on the technical piece,” Lopes said through an interpreter. “I can see myself coming back. I have only two years in this organization, and I think I'm going to train better. I'm going to get better."

Volkanovski was a -160 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook to defeat Lopes (26-7), whose five-match winning streak ended.

In preparing for Lopes, Volkanovski said he fully committed himself by beginning training camp earlier than usual and focusing on the workout recovery process and dieting in addition to the physical demands. He said he has never been this lean going into a bout.

Volkanovski had plenty of reason for wanting to get to work. He took an extended layoff after losing in February 2024 to Topuria. More than that, he’s coming off defeats in three of his past four fights, including losing the two most recent matches. All four fights occurred in less than a year, so he was much more rested.

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Diego Lopes, left, and Alexander Volkanovski, right, battle during a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Diego Lopes, left, and Alexander Volkanovski, right, battle during a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Alexander Volkanovski, left, and Diego Lopes battle during a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

President Donald Trump, from left, Elon Musk, his son X Æ A-Xii, and from background left, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attend a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

President Donald Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives at a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Michael Chandler, left, and Paddy Pimblett , right, battle during a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Michael Chandler is bloodied during his fight against Paddy Pimblett in a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Paddy Pimblett reacts after defeating Michael Chandler during a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has not spared a single Ukrainian power plant from attack since its all-out invasion, Ukraine’s new energy minister said Friday, as a recent escalation of aerial bombardments left hundreds of thousands of people without heat or light for days during the coldest winter in years.

Denys Shmyhal said Russia conducted 612 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure objects over last year. That barrage has intensified in recent months as nighttime temperatures plunge to minus 18 degrees C (minus 0.4 F).

“Nobody in the world has ever faced such a challenge,” Shmyhal told lawmakers in a speech at Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

Russia has hammered Ukraine’s power grid, especially in winter, throughout the almost four-year war. It aims to weaken the Ukrainian will to resist in a strategy that Kyiv officials call “weaponizing winter.”

Securing from abroad new missile supplies for air defenses that can counter Russia’s power grid attacks is a difficult and exhausting process, Zelenskyy said, revealing that some of the country’s air defense systems were out of missiles and at Russia’s mercy until a new shipment arrived Friday morning.

Obtaining supplies requires intense diplomatic pressure due to minimum stockpile levels and national laws in allied countries, according to the Ukrainian leader.

“But honestly, what do those rules and laws mean when we are at war and we desperately need these missiles?” Zelenskyy said.

The grim outlook roughly halfway through the winter season coincides with uncertainty about the direction and progress of U.S.-led peace efforts.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Ukrainian delegation is on its way to the United States to try and finalize with Washington documents for a proposed peace settlement that relate to postwar security guarantees and economic recovery.

If American officials approve the proposals, the U.S. and Ukraine could sign the documents next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy said at a Kyiv news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel.

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to be in Davos, organizers say.

Russia would still need to be consulted on the proposals.

In Ukraine, the hardship was acute amid extended blackouts.

“This is a critical moment,” Jaime Wah, the deputy head in the Kyiv delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said Friday.

“This is the hardest winter since the escalation of the conflict: punishing cold temperatures and the lack of heating and electricity are affecting millions who are already pushed to the edge by years of violence and economic strain,” he told a briefing in Geneva.

Ukraine's power shortage is so desperate that Shmyhal urged businesses to switch off their illuminated signage and exterior decorations to save electricity.

“If you have spare energy, better give it to people,” the energy minister said. “This is the most important thing today. People will be grateful.”

Ukraine has introduced emergency measures, including temporarily easing curfew restrictions to allow people to go whenever they need to public heating centers set up by the authorities, Shmyhal said. He said hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure remain the top priority for electricity and heat supplies.

Officials have instructed state energy companies Ukrzaliznytsia, Naftogaz and Ukroboronprom to urgently purchase imported electricity covering at least 50% of their own consumption, according to Shmyhal.

U.K. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was in Kyiv on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the “100-year partnership” between Britain and Ukraine. To coincide with the anniversary, Britain announced a further 20 million pounds ($27 million) for repairs to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

A grinding war of attrition is continuing along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line. For all its military might, Russia has managed to occupy less than 20% of Ukraine since 2014.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Emergency tents are set up in a residential neighborhood where people can warm up following Russia's regular air attacks against the country's energy objects that leave residents without power, water and heating in the dead of winter, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vladyslav Musiienko)