A lightweight clash between No. 7 ranked Michael Chandler and No. 12 ranked Paddy Pimblett will serve as the UFC 314 co-main event.
UFC 324 takes place April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. The fight promotion announced several bouts for the event on Wednesday. The fight card is headlined by a featherweight title bout. Former champion Alexander Volkanovski takes on No. 3 ranked Diego Lopes for the vacant title.
The bout between Chandler and Pimblett will lead into the featured fight. Chandler (23-9) is a former three-time Bellator lightweight champion but has struggled against the top tier UFC lightweights. He defeated Dan Hooker by TKO in his promotional debut and for the the title in his next fight.
He faced then-champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 and had the Brazilian badly hurt in the first round. Oliveira rallied back and finished Chandler early in the second frame. He’s lost four of his last five fights and is in desperate need of a win.
Pimblett (22-3) will enter the fight against Chandler an eight-fight winning streak. He last fought at UFC 304 last July, defeating King [Bobby] Green by submission in the first round. “The Baddy” will be looking to jump into the Top 10 rankings with a win, but Chandler will be the toughest test so far in his career.
