Diego Lopes revealed that he agreed to fight Steve Garcia without knowing the bout would take place at the White House, saying the UFC only informed him of the historic venue after he had already accepted the matchup.
Lopes (27-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC) is set to face Garcia at UFC Freedom 250 this Sunday and discussed how the fight came together during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday.
According to Lopes, the UFC contacted him just days before announcing the card and only asked if he was willing to fight Garcia (19-5 MMA, 8-2 UFC).
“Actually, I don't have a choice, you know, because the UFC called me two days before announcing the card,” Lopes said. “They said, ‘Hey, maybe you'll fight with Steve Garcia,’ but the UFC never said, ‘You’ll fight in the White House,’ or ‘Do you want to fight in the White House?’ They just said, ‘Do you want to fight with Steve Garcia?’ I just said, ‘Yeah, don't worry.’ The people know me, I accept all fights.”
At the time, Lopes assumed the matchup would be booked for a more traditional event later in the year.
“So my expectations at this time are, okay, maybe in September at Noche UFC,” Lopes said. “This is my mind at this time.”
It wasn’t until the promotion began unveiling the Freedom 250 lineup that Lopes realized he would be competing on one of the most unique cards in UFC history.
“Two days later, in the Max vs. Oliveira card, they started to show the Freedom 250 fights,” Lopes said. “I saw my name and said, ‘Okay, cool, one more fight.’”
When Helwani asked whether he would have accepted the fight if he had known beforehand that it would take place at the White House, Lopes said the venue would not have changed his decision.
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Lopes said. “So it's like I just lost my second chance for the title, you know? So I don't have a lot of choices. I just like to say yes for every fight.”
Lopes has become known for his willingness to take high-profile opportunities inside the Octagon. Seven of his nine UFC appearances have come on pay-per-view events, including landmark cards such as UFC 300 and Noche UFC.
However, after suffering two losses to Alexander Volkanovski in featherweight title bouts, Lopes currently finds himself outside the immediate championship picture at 145 pounds. A victory over Garcia at UFC Freedom 250 could help him rebuild momentum and move closer to another run at the title.
