Diego Lopes has his sights set on getting back into title contention in the UFC featherweight division.
Lopes (26-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) fought Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) for the vacant 145-pound title at UFC 314 last month. After falling short on the judges’ scorecards, Lopes has begun mapping out his road back to the top of the division.
With the UFC set to host a gala event in Guadalajara—the city he has called home for many years—on September 13, Lopes sees a major opportunity to thrust himself back into the title conversation. He also named a couple of potential opponents who could help get him there.
"My focus is to fight at Noche UFC in September," Lopes told Hablemos MMA (translated from Spanish). "Two names I can mention that I’d like would be the rematch against Movsar (Evloev) or a fight against Yair (Rodriguez). Either of those guys gets me close to the title."
Lopes made his UFC debut on short notice against Movsar Evloev two years ago. Although he lost that night, his performance turned heads. He then went on a five-fight winning streak, which earned him a title shot against Volkanovski.
While he came up short against the Australian in Miami, Lopes believes his impressive overall body of work at 145 pounds has kept him firmly in the title picture.
"The fights that I have to take are the ones that guarantee me to fight for the belt next," Lopes said. "I have yet to really think about it too much on what we want to do, but obviously we have Noche UFC in Guadalajara, that's my objective, to fight there. The fight that I want is the one that gets me closest to the title. Regardless of who it is, I want the fight the UFC goes, 'Ok, win this one, and you're fighting for the title.' That's the one I'm taking, no problem."
Many fans felt Movsar Evloev (19–0 MMA, 9–0 UFC) was unfairly overlooked when Diego Lopes was selected to face Volkanovski for the vacant 145-pound title at UFC 314. Meanwhile, former title challenger Yair Rodríguez (20–5 MMA, 11–4 UFC) reminded the division of his credentials that night with an impressive win over Patricio Pitbull.
"Look, it's definitely Movsar," Lopes said when asked who deserves to get the next title shot at 145 pounds. "The UFC has been cooking him for many years now. Even though people don't like his style, he's won key fights to have an opportunity to fight for the title.
"'El Pantera' also had a good showing in his last fight. I think the UFC had to offer him something. I don't think it was like, 'Hey, fight this guy because that's the only one available.' I don't think he'd fight a newcomer outside the rankings without getting some promise or some offer. So I think any of those guys can fight for the title, but whoever doesn't get the title shot, have them fight me."
