Diego Lopes hopes to insert his name in the conversation for a shot at the featherweight title with a win at the historic UFC 306 card at the Sphere in Las Vegas this Saturday night, and he wouldn’t be surprised to see Max Holloway standing across the cage when that day comes.
Lopes faces former title challenger Brian Ortega this weekend in an attempt to extend his winning streak to five since joining the promotion, a run that includes three finishes and a pair of performance bonuses. He wants to be sitting cageside to witness a possible change at the top of the weight class at UFC 308, which goes down Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi.
Holloway, who once held the 145-pound crown with wins over the legendary Jose Aldo, earned another crack at gold with an epic knockout over Justin Gaethje for the BMF title in April. “Blessed” will challenge Ilia Topuria, who dismantled Holloway’s past nemesis Alexander Volkanovski in devastating fashion to capture the championship in February and improve to 15-0 in the sport.
“This fight is very interesting,” Lopes said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “Holloway has been fighting everybody in the division — and even moved up because there was no one left for him to face. This Topuria fight will be very interesting because Topuria represents new blood in the division, a new guy that is knocking everybody out.
“My focus is to win my fight against Ortega and tell my manager we’re going to Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26 to watch this fight there. We have that in mind already, but the main focus is to win my fight next and then see what the next step is.”
Lopes has said previously that he plans on beating Ortega “emphatically” to “elevate me in the rankings” and make sure a title shot “won’t be that far”. Asked of who wins at UFC 308, the 29-year-old Brazilian said he foresees experience topping power and youth. Holloway won his past three over Arnol Allen, Shan Sung Jung and Gaethje, and Topuria is 7-0 in the UFC against the likes of Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell and Ryan Hall.
“It’s a very close fight,” Lopes said. “I lean towards Holloway a bit because of his experience. He’s been fighting many different type of opponents in the division. He fought Volkanovski, Jose Aldo and Jeremy Stephens, short guys that have a lot of knockout power, and no one could [knock him out]. We’ll see what happens, but I think I side with Max Holloway a bit.”
