UFC lightweight star Paddy Pimblett faces his toughest test yet when he takes on Michael Chandler at UFC 314 in Miami on April 12.
‘The Baddy’ has been a breath of fresh air since signing with the promotion back in 2021 and has yet to taste defeat. With a UFC record of 6-0, the Liverpudlian scored the most impressive win of his career in his last outing at UFC 304 in July when he submitted King Green inside the first round in Manchester.
As for Chandler, the former Bellator lightweight champion has established himself as a real fan-favourite since he joined MMA’s biggest promotion. The American is currently 2-4 in the UFC and comes into the clash off the back of a defeat against Charles Oliveira back in November.
His showdown with ‘Do Bronx’ came after waiting two years to go head-to-head with Conor McGregor. ‘The Notorious’ – a former two-division champion in the UFC – hasn’t fought since losing to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 back in 2021. He was expected to fight Chandler in his comeback to the promotion, but pulled out of his UFC 303 clash due to an injury.
Despite pulling out of the scheduled bout, McGregor still hopes to settle the score with Chandler. “I’d like it to be Chandler,” the Irishman said about his UFC comeback ahead of Anthony Joshua’s loss to Daniel Dubois in September. “I’d like that to be squared away. I wish him well against Oliveira, but let’s see how it goes.”
With McGregor’s UFC return delayed once again, Chandler was unwilling to wait around and will instead move forward with his career as he hopes to derail the Pimblett hype-train. Their lightweight bout is scheduled for five rounds in the co-main event of UFC 314, as confirmed by Dana White on Wednesday night.
The event will be headlined by a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes. Confirmation of the mouthwatering bout immediately followed the stunning news that llia Topuria had vacated the 145lb title in a bid to go head-to-head with 155lb champion, Islam Makhachev.
The incredible match-ups didn’t end there, though, as White announced the signing of Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull – who is scheduled to face former interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez on the card. Other new fights announced by the promotion for UFC 314 include a welterweight bout between Geoff Neal and Carlos Prates, along with a featherweight dust-up between Dan Ige and Sean Woodson.
White also confirmed two title fights set for UFC 315 as Belal Muhammad will defend his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena, whilst women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will face France’s Manon Fiorot in a five round co-main event. Della Maddalena was due to fight Leon Edwards in London next month, but ‘Rocky’ is now due to fight Sean Brady at the O2 Arena.
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