Paddy Pimblett handed blockbuster Michael Chandler fight in UFC 314 co-main event

The brash Liverpudlian gets his biggest test yet, as he faces Chandler across five rounds

Paddy Pimblett’s biggest test yet will come in the co-main event of UFC 314, as he takes on Michael Chandler in April.

Pimblett has gone 6-0 since joining the UFC in 2021, with three submissions and one knockout along the way. Most recently, the Liverpudlian lightweight submitted King Green in July.

Meanwhile, Chandler was a three-time Bellator champion before signing with the UFC in 2020, and he has gone 2-4 since. Between February 2023 and September 2024, the American waited on a planned fight with Conor McGregor, which never materialised.

Chandler instead faced Charles Oliveira in November, losing a lopsided decision, three years after losing to the Brazilian via TKO in a lightweight title fight.

With a McGregor fight unlikely to materialise anytime soon, Chandler, 38, will move forward against Pimblett, 30.

Their lightweight bout is scheduled for five rounds in the co-main event of UFC 314, which will be headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes – a fight for the vacant featherweight belt.

Confirmation of that match-up immediately followed the shock news that llia Topuria had vacated the featherweight title, as he eyes a shot at lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.