Written by Diego Lopes and Brian Ortega | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Diego Lopes wants UFC gold — or at least a chance to earn that spot against a legend of the sport.
Lopes scored the biggest win of his career earlier this month UFC 306, defeating two-time title challenger Brian Ortega via decision at Sphere in Las Vegas to climb six positions and reach No. 5 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. However, that doesn’t mean he’s now interested in facing the No. 4-ranked Movsar Evloev, the fighter who handed Lopes his most recent loss.
Lopes was competitive in a short-notice decision loss to Evloev in May 2023, impressing in his UFC debut. He has since won five straight with a trio of finishes and two post-fight bonuses. Evloev has only fought once since that night, defeating Arnold Allen via decision, and offered a rematch to Lopes at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 after Aljamain Sterling withdrew from their bout due to injury.
“The only possibility this fight happens is if the UFC really says, ‘OK, you fight him and win, and you’re next for the belt,’” Lopes said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “That’s the only way this fight happens at the moment, and I want a full camp. It’s very easy for him to call me out knowing I just fought two weeks ago. I’ve been calling him out several times to fight with a full camp, and he never wanted it. The possibility of me accepting this fight now or fight him on short notice is zero.”
The UFC featherweight championship is up for grabs on Oct. 26, when Max Holloway challenges Ilia Topuria in Abu Dhabi, and Lopes reaffirmed that being backup fighter for the UFC 308 main event is his No. 1 plan at the moment.
“If that doesn’t happen, we’d like the possibility of fighting [Alexander] Volkanovski in December,” Lopes said. “He doesn’t like to wait, and neither do I, so that could be a good fight. A lot can happen, but I think the two most viable options for us right now are being the backup fighter in Abu Dhabi, or fighting Volkanovski in December. The UFC is aware that I’m available for [UFC 308], so it depends on what they want to do.”
Volkanovski reigned as UFC featherweight king from 2019 to 2024, defeating the likes of Holloway, Ortega, Jose Aldo and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, but has now lost three of his past four. Two of those losses came against 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev, and he was knocked out by Topuria in his most recent fight.
Lopes said he’s “available and willing” to face Volkanovski in the headliner to the Dec. 14 Fight Night card in Tampa, Fla., or to battle in a five-round co-headliner at UFC 310 a week prior in Las Vegas.
“The Volk fight would be very interesting because he’s shown he can adapt well to everybody’s style, especially when his opponent is taller, until he fought Topuria,” Lopes said. “But I think I can also adapt well to guys that are shorter than me, so it would be a very interesting fight.”