The UFC returned to Miami for the first time since March 2024, and it did not disappoint. The Keyesa Center hosted UFC 314 this past weekend, and it may have been the best event all year. With a highly anticipated main event for the featherweight title between future UFC Hall of Famer Alexander Volkanovski and rising-star Diego Lopes, this card had fans on their toes. The pay-per-view also featured an exciting co-main event between Paddy Pimblett and Michael Chandler.
The 13-fight card was filled with plenty of entertaining finishes, with six fights ending by KO/TKO and two fights ending via submission. Other popular fighters featured throughout the card were Fighting Nerds member Jean Silva, Yair Rodriguez and Dominick Reyes. Overall, UFC 314 easily lived up to all of its hype, and I am going to be covering three of my personal favorite finishes from this past weekend.
Nikita Krylov vs Dominick Reyes
The first fight on the main card was a three round Light-Heavyweight bout between two fighters on multi-fight win streaks. Nikita Krylov made his return to the octagon for the first time since March 2023. “The Miner” came into this fight riding a win streak of three, with his last victory coming as a submission over Ryan Spann. The Russia native took on former title contender Reyes. Following his recent resurgence, Reyes managed to bounce back from his four-fight losing streak, with two straight wins via KO/TKO.
Krylov and Reyes both began the fight slowly, feeling each other out for the first couple of minutes. This fight picked up pace at around 2:40 when Krylov decided to lunge towards Reyes to land one or two brutal shots. However, Reyes was prepared. He calmly took a step back and threw a beautiful left hook that connected cleanly on Krylov. This shot dropped the light-heavyweight, and after a second of ground and pound, UFC referee Marc Goddard called a stop to the contest. Reyes improved his knockout streak to three and seems to be another name to worry about in the Light-Heavyweight division.
Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva
After Silva’s latest knockout win on March 22, the fighting nerd immediately called for a ranked opponent like Bryce Mitchell. The buildup to this flight was exhilarating, and it genuinely seemed like there was some beef between the two. Silva has yet to lose a fight in the UFC, holding a perfect 5-0 record pre-fight. Mitchell had just recently returned to the octagon at UFC 310, knocking out Kron Gracie. As the fight approached, fans around the world started to believe in the Bryce Mitchell hype train. Many believed Silva did not have good takedown defense and that he had not been tested.
The fight began and it was clear that Silva was as calm as ever, even taking time to taunt Mitchell and point to the crowd. Striking wise, it was a fair fight, with Silva and Mitchell trading blows with each other. However, when it came down to wrestling, Mitchell could not get anything going. Silva stuffed 13 of Mitchell’s 14 attempts, while also having three sub attempts of his own. After a back and forth round one, it was clear Silva took the first.
Only 20 seconds into round two, Silva threw a clean right hand, dropping Mitchell. Silva even allowed Mitchell back onto his feet to continue the fight. With a little more than a minute left in round two, Silva was able to get a hold of a standing ninja choke. He brought it to the ground and forced Mitchell to tap. Silva was victorious, proving his ground game is legit and claiming his ranking in the Featherweight division.
Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett
This five round co-main event was a thrilling fight between one of the most entertaining lightweights in the game and the popular up-and-comer from England. Chandler came off the heels of a decision loss to Charles Oliveira after a two-year layoff. Pimblett, on the other hand, had just achieved his ranking in the lightweight division after an impressive performance, which saw him sub King Green. Fans wondered whether Pimblett was going to continue to go up in the rankings, or if Chandler could snap his losing streak and remain among the top 10 lightweights.
From the start of the first round to the end of the third, Pimblett put on a clinic in the octagon. Coming into the fight, fans were concerned if Pimblett would be able to stand and strike with Chandler, and that is exactly what he did. Chandler threw a total of 20 strikes throughout two and a half rounds, with 11 being significant. Pimblett threw 121 total strikes, with 80 being significant. It was Chandler taking the fight to the ground, landing 4/7 takedowns and racking up a total of 2:44 of control time.
Early into round three, Pimblett threw a huge right knee, followed with a nice one two which cut Chandler right open. He immediately took Chandler down, and after a minute on the ground, he unleashed some brutal ground and pound. With two minutes left in the round, the fight was stopped. Pimblett kept his undefeated record in the UFC and jumped to No. 8 in the lightweight rankings. During his post-fight interview, he took the time to call out some of the biggest names in the division like Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier and Arman Tsarukyan.