UFC 314: Volkanovski vs Lopes - Apr 12 ???️

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

First PPV I ordered in a fair while, had my mum and little brother over, we were all super invested in a Volk win, so couldn't be happier.

The actual action in the fight wasn't always an absolute dynamite classic, but it was a smart gameplan by Volk, who used a ton of movement and volume striking to avoid the power of Lopes for the most part- apart from that scary moment towards the end of R2. Still had Volk winning that round though, it was a flash knockdown and he was ahead by a good distance already. I can't lie though, the exchanges that got a little wild had me shitting myself. Glad to see Volk make history and break all kind of curses. Hope I get to meet him one day, he lives in the local area and I've got mates who have just casually met him at the shops and gotten a selfie. Even if he starts losing again, he's broken the trend that fighters have of being on top of the division and then falling from grace without really stopping- your Tony Fergusons, sadly Anderson Silva to a point, and so on.

Paddy Pimblett's either a little better than I thought he was, or Chandler's a bit past it. Spent too long waiting for the Conor payday I reckon. Still looks a million bucks physically but yeah. Paddy's probably super heavyweight as I type this, but he's got some big fights in his future.

Happy to see Reyes get the win. You could see true happiness in him as well. He's still fairly young, would be great to see him have a run so that his career isn't just defined as "hey, remember that one time I nearly beat Jon Jones?"

Seeing that hillbilly prick Bryce Mitchell get choked to sleep sparked joy.

Fun card overall. Enjoyable family time bonding over people getting fucked up in cage fights.

Edited April 16, 2025 by Shane O' Mac Version 2

[wandshogun09]

3 hours ago, Shane O' Mac Version 2 said:

Glad to see Volk make history and break all kind of curses.

Meant to mention that. To put in perspective how strong an achievement this was for Volk, with this win…

• He became the first male fighter under 155lbs (so basically in the best and most difficult weight classes) and over 35 years old to win a UFC title.

• He became the first fighter in UFC history to win an undisputed title after back-to-back losses.

• He also broke the bastard Drake curse!

I’ve been thinking about this since the weekend, is Volk the GOAT now at Featherweight? I know ‘GOAT’ is almost always a stupid and silly conversation and most discussions about it just reveal that loads of fans can’t grasp what the Greatest Of All Time actually means. It often just descends into a ‘this guy’s my favourite so he’s the GOAT’ shite. But for me, despite his losses, it was always Aldo for me. I think the run he had starting in WEC and through the UFC completely changed the division and put it on the map. He had the most defences, he had quality defences, he was dominant, he had great fights and I think it’s fair to say he raised the bar in the lower weight classes. Everyone had to step their game up when Aldo came through. His accomplishments and his run at his peak were untouched for me even by guys who beat him later. They never matched what he did as far as a body of work in the division. But I don’t know, Volk might’ve overtaken him now for me. It’s close but it’s absolutely between Aldo and Volk for me. Volk was asked about it by the media on Saturday night and he was class as always, basically saying Aldo was still the man.

For me, if I had to choose a Mount Rushmore of the Featherweight division, I think it pretty much has to go - Aldo, McGregor, Holloway, Volkanovski. And while it doesn’t mean everything, if you go by the head-to-heads, Volk’s handily beaten two of the other guys on that Mount Rushmore of 145. And in the case of Holloway, he beat him three times! But then there’s just the sheer amount of title fight wins Aldo had. If you include WEC (and you should because it’s basically the lineal title going back to when the UFC absorbed the WEC belts), Aldo’s won 11 UFC/WEC title fights. Volk’s had less but then going 3-0 over Max Holloway is an insane thing in its own right.

Ah, fuck it. Make two crowns. 

[Carbomb]

Agree with everything there, wand, except maybe McG's inclusion, and not just because he's a cunt. He didn't defend his belt - which makes him comparable to Topuria, whom I would now rank above McG for having been the first man to knock out Holloway AND beat a dominant champ in Volk. Yes, McG beat a dominant Aldo, but I don't think his road to the belt was quite as tough as Topuria's, who'd handed Bryce Mitchell his first loss, and broken Ryan Hall's winning streak. Plus he's still undefeated.

I admit that it's still early for Topuria in terms of accolades, but if his move up to LW is because he can't make 145 any more, then surely his run at that weight is finished and we can compare it to that of a practically finished McG.

[wandshogun09]

You know what, you’re right. I guess I kind of dismissed Topuria because his reign was so short but you’re correct. McGregor didn’t even have a reign as champ at 145 because he never defended the belt. Topuria not only defended it, he defended it against Holloway and became the first to knock him out. And even the head-to-heads against my other Mount Rushmorers, they’ve both beat two of them but Topuria beat a much better version of Max than McGregor did and he did it in better style.

[Egg Shen]

I put Volk over Aldo. Aldo's actual reign was legendary but if you consider the 145 Mount Rushmore shortlist Volkanovski, Aldo, McGregor, Holloway, Topuria, you can't look past Aldo going 0-4 against the others on the list.

[wandshogun09]

After a couple of brutal losses, losing the title and then having a year out to sit and think about it, this must’ve been the perfect homecoming for Volk…