It’s a big night for the featherweight division and a big night for the world’s largest MMA promotion as UFC 314 arrives in Miami, Florida on Saturday.
Headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes for the title vacated by Ilia Topuria (who technically remains champ until the opening bell sounds), there’s not one but three high profile 145lb match-ups for fans to look forward to.
Of course, Volk vs. Lopes has the belt on the line, with questions surrounding rather Australian Volkanovski can return to form and regain his old title after back-to-back losses. Not to mention whether he can overcome the surging and increasingly popular Diego Lopes. Past that, however, there is the debut of Bellator great Patricio Pitbull, a multi-time, two-weight champion in the new defunct organization. Pitbull gets Yair Rodriguez in his promotional debut, though Yair was quarreling with Lopes at Thursday’s press conference over a grudge between their respective teams, rather than showing much hostility to Pitbull.
And even all the drama pales in comparison to Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva. Mitchell has somehow managed to dethrone Sean Strickland as the UFC’s most controversial fighter (don’t worry, Strickland fans, he’s no doubt busy on Twitter right now doing his best to reclaim his spot). From calling Adolf Hitler a “good guy to go fishing with” to choosing “White Power” as his alternate nickname just a day before UFC 314, Mitchell hasn’t just courted controversy, he’s dove straight into hit head first.
While criticism of Mitchell has riled up his supporters, a good portion of the UFC fanbase have now thrown themselves behind Jean Silva. Mitchell has been booed mercilessly at two straight press conferences and had to endure countless “f*ck Bryce Mitchell” chants from Silva and fans. Whether that fires him up enough to get the win over the Brazilian on Saturday remains to be seen.
Somehow, we’ve said all that and not even mentioned a banger of a co-main event between Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett.
Our crew is pretty divided on Saturday’s UFC 314 main card, but read on for our picks!
| Writer / Fight | Krylov vs. Reyes | Mitchell vs. Silva | Rodriguez vs. Pitbull | Chandler vs. Pimblett | Volkanovski vs. Lopes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Law (40-22) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Alex Behunin (39-23) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Patrick McCorry (38-24) | | | | | |
| Mathis Desjardins (37-25) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (36-26) | | | | | |
| Chris Prawdzik (29-21) | | | | | |
| Cade Morehouse (7-7) | | | | | |
Patricio Pitbull was a favorite to win his debut over Yair Rodriguez, while most of our crew sided with former Bellator champ Michael Chandler against Paddy Pimblett. There were zero unanimous picks on the card, however, and the remaining fights were all quite close.
