UFC Announces Changes To UFC 314 PPV Card After Losing Prates Vs. Neal

As Gus Johnson once said, “These things happen in MMA.” In this case, we’re talking about an injury causing a fight to fall off a UFC pay-per-view card. The fight in question is the Carlos Prates vs. Geoff Neal matchup, which was scheduled for the UFC 314 PPV card. With Neal being unable to make it to the Octagon, Prates has been removed from the card, and a light heavyweight bout has been elevated from the UFC 314 prelims to the main card of the event, which is scheduled for May 12 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Below is the new UFC 314 main card and the updated prelims and early prelims for the event.

UFC 314 PPV Card

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes

Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett

Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva

Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes

Ironically, the Krylov vs. Reyes fight was initially scheduled for the PPV portion of UFC 314. However, that fight was dropped to the prelims in favor of the Rodriguez vs. Freire matchup, in mid-March.

The UFC 314 prelims and early prelims now look like this:

UFC 314 Preliminary Card

Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson

Yan Xiaonan vs. Virna Jandiroba

Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper

Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa

UFC 314 Early Preliminary Card

Sedriques Dumas vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk

Sumudaerji vs. Mitch Raposo

Tresean Gore vs. Marco Tulio

Nora Cornolle vs. Hailey Cowan

The changes were announced on the UFC website. As always, the card is subject to further changes before fight night.

UFC 314: Prates Vs. Neal Canceled

The matchup between Prates and Neal was scratched from UFC 314 in late March after Neal suffered an undisclosed injury. At the time of the announcement, it was also revealed that Prates would be removed from the card.

On April 1, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Prates would face Ian Machado Garry in the main event of the UFC Kansas City fight card, which is scheduled for April 26 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. That fight replaced the initial UFC Kansas City main event between former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr, as Hill suffered an injury.

UFC 314: Krylov vs. Reyes

Krylov (30-9) is on a three-fight winning streak heading into UFC 314. The No. 8 fighter in the official UFC light heavyweight rankings, Krylov is coming off a March 2023 submission win over Ryan Spann.

Reyes (14-4) gave then-UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones one of the toughest tests of his title reign in February 2020, losing to Jones via decision. After that setback, Reyes dropped three fights in a row, losing to Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka, and Ryan Spann via knockout. He ended his losing skid in June 2024 with a knockout win over Dustin Jacoby. Most recently, Reyes defeated Anthony Smith via knockout in December. Reyes is the No. 11 ranked UFC 205-pounder.

UFC 314 Fight Card Main Event: Alexander Volkanovski Vs. Diego Lopes

The winner of the UFC 314 main event will walk away from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida with the UFC featherweight title over their shoulder.

In announcing Volkanovski vs. Lopes, UFC CEO Dana White said of the soon to be former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, “Topuria has felt like he’s done all he can in that division, and he feels like he’s cemented his legacy, and his body cannot make the weight anymore. So Topuria will be moving up to 155 pounds and will be vacating the featherweight title. … As soon as the first punch is thrown in (Volkanovski vs. Lopes), the title is vacated. We will announce what Topuria’s next fight will be when we get it done.”

UFC 314 Main Event Opening Odds – Volkanovski Vs. Lopes

UFC 314 Fight Card Main Event: Alexander Volkanovski

Volkanovski (26-4) is a former UFC featherweight champion. He held the title from December 2019 through February 2024, defending the belt five times over that time. His reign began with a unanimous decision win over Max Holloway and ended in a knockout loss to Topuria in February 2024.

During his run with the 145-pound belt, Volkanovski twice fought for the UFC lightweight belt, losing to Islam Makhachev in February and October 2023. Makhachev won the first meeting by decision. He followed that with a knockout victory.

Volkanovski has not stepped into the Octagon since his loss to Topuria. He is the No. 1 fighter in the official UFC featherweight rankings.

UFC 314 Fight Card Main Event: Diego Lopes

Lopes (26-6) is the No. 3 fighter in the UFC’s 145-pound weight class. Lopes joined the UFC in May 2023, dropping his promotional debut to Movsar Evloev via decision. Since then, Lopes is unbeaten in five fights. His most recent victory was a UFC 306 decision win over two-time UFC title challenger Brian Ortega.

UFC 314 Fight Card: Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett

Michael Chandler (23-9) missed a lot of time over the past few years waiting for a bout opposite Conor McGregor to come together. With that fight looking less likely by the day, Chandler returned to the Octagon on November 2024 to face former UFC champion Charles Oliveira. It was Chandler’s first foray into the cage since a 2022 loss to Dustin Poirier. Oliveira downed Chandler via decision at UFC 309.

Paddy Pimblett (22-3) is a former Cage Warriors lightweight champion. He has slowly been working his way up the UFC rankings since making his promotional debut in September 2021. Now 6-0 with the UFC, Pimblett looks to take a step up in competition against Chandler. Pimblett is coming off a UFC 304 “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning submission win over Bobby Green.

UFC 314 Fight Card: Patricio “Pitbull” Freire Debuts

Former Bellator two-division Bellator champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire got his wish. In February, the UFC announced that the 37-year-old had signed with the promotion. At the time of the signing, the UFC announced Freire would face former UFC title challenger Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314.

Freire (36-7) spent the bulk of his career under the Bellator banner. He made his promotional debut on the Bellator 15 card in April 2010. Freire first fought for the Bellator featherweight belt in 2013, losing by decision to Pat Curran. He got his revenge on Curran in September 2014, winning the belt via decision.

Freire defended his title twice before dropping a decision to Daniel Straus in November 2015. He regained the belt in 2017, submitting Straus via guillotine. Freire defended the title twice before adding the Bellator lightweight title to his trophy case.

Freire’s May 2019 TKO win over Michael Chandler earned him the Bellator 155-pound belt.

Freire defended his featherweight crown three times as a two-division champ before losing a July 2021 submission to A.J. McKee. He never put the lightweight belt up for grabs, vacating the title in October 2021.

The featherweight crown returned to Freire’s mantle in April 2022 when he defeated McKee via decision. Freire defended the belt twice in his third stint as the 145-pound champ. His most recent fight was a March 2024 TKO win over Jeremy Kennedy in a title defense.

Feire also dropped to bantamweight for a 2023 title shot against Sergio Pettis. Pettis won that contest via decision.

In December, Freire told MMA Junkie he wanted to be done with Bellator, which the PFL purchased in November 2023.

“They said they’d do eight Bellator shows a year, and only ended up doing five,” Freire said. “I found out on the internet that Chihiro (Sizuku) is fighting someone else. Later, I heard the Aaron Pico fight was off. It hasn’t been a good year with them. Things started from the beginning. I had a lot of promises from Donn Davis. But every time we got some news, it was bad news. So that’s why I think it’s time to move on.”

“I think all my numbers, all the types of fights I’ve put on in my career, I think they’d welcome me,” Freire added. “I’d like to get the chance to showcase my skills in this great organization. I would like to jump into the shark tank. I would like to fight the top guys. If I can’t get a title shot right away, give me someone who could lead me there sooner rather than later.

“We had some guys like Brian Ortega, Movsar Evloev, Diego Lopes, Alexander Volkanovski, and Yair Rodriguez, some of these guys have fought for the title already. So they won’t have much fresh names besides Diego there right now. I think bringing me there would give some fresh blood to the division and would make real shakeup over there. I’d like to prove myself against these guys and show them that I belong.”

We will have more on the UFC 314 fight card as fight night approaches.