Diego Lopes almost cracked the top-10 rankings in his first UFC fight.
It’s pretty crazy to think Lopes hasn’t been on the UFC roster for two years and the UFC Featherweight contender is already challenging for the title, recently left behind by champion Ilia Topuria.
In the main event of UFC 314 on Apr. 12, Diego Lopes will fight former champ Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant strap.
Lopes earned the opportunity after an impressive 5-1 run at 145lbs. The only blemish on Lopes’ UFC record came to the undefeated Movsar Evloev in his promotional debut in 2023, a fight he’s interested in running back for the title.
The circumstances were far from perfect but Lopes made the most out of it.
Diego Lopes almost stopped Movsar Evloev on 5 days notice
Lopes was signed to the UFC for the Evloev fight, filling in as a short-notice replacement for Bryce Mitchell at UFC 288 on May 6, 2023. Lopes accepted Evloev, the #10 contender at the time, on five days notice.
No training camp? No problem for Lopes, the +625 underdog giving his absolute all in New Jersey.
Pitted with a massive cardio disadvantage, Lopes had a fiery first round against Evloev. Lopes stunned his opponent with punches on the feet before threatening a tight armbar on the ground.
Evloev weathered a nasty storm, surviving round 1 to eventually see Lopes start to slow down.
In the second round, Evloev established over two minutes of control time and landed ground and pound strikes with Lopes on his back.
Diego Lopes came close to pulling off upset in final seconds
Lopes’ submission game came back to life in the third and final round, almost submitting Evloev with a Kimura during one of his takedowns.
Evloev barely escaped through a scramble. The Russian was still in danger towards the final 30 seconds of the fight with Lopes attempting a leg lock.
Lopes pulled on Evloev’s leg like his depended on it until the buzzer sounded, marking the end of the fight.
It wasn’t enough to secure Diego Lopes the win (he lost by unanimous decision) but instead worldwide recognition as a legitimate player in the featherweight division.
On top of that, the Brazilian got a win bonus from UFC boss Dana White despite the loss.
The next UFC title challenger Lopes has proved his worth with wins over former title challenger Brian Ortega, Dan Ige (that fight took place on a few hours notice), and Sodiq Yusuff.
