Diego Lopes believes his arsenal is just too numerous and harmful for Alexander Volkanovski to deal with.
Lopes is about to collide with Volkanovski for the vacant featherweight crown within the headlining bout of UFC 314, happening this Saturday on the Kaseya Heart in Miami, Florida.
Though he got here up quick in his Octagon debut at UFC 288 in Might 2023, Lopes has been on a meteoric rise ever since — stringing collectively 5 consecutive victories, three of which got here throughout a relentless run of kind over the previous yr. Now, the Brazilian is taking that confidence into probably the most important battle of his profession.
Through the UFC 314 media day on Wednesday, Diego Lopes made it clear he has the talent set to defeat “The Nice,” claiming he’s able to successful by knockout, submission, or on the judges’ scorecards, regardless of the place the battle goes.
“I believe whichever alternative reveals up first,” Lopes stated by means of a translator. “I’ve heavy fingers to place him down, and my jiu-jitsu can also be harmful – each on prime and on backside. We’ve seen that he clearly hasn’t been completed on the bottom, he has actually good floor protection, however guys have been in a position to lock submission on him. I believe I simply want one alternative to complete.”
Diego Lopes enters UFC 314 driving the momentum of a dominant unanimous resolution victory over Brian Ortega at UFC 306 this previous September.
In the meantime, Volkanovski final competed at UFC 298 in February 2024, the place his long-standing reign as featherweight king got here to a sudden halt after struggling a second-round knockout loss to Ilia Topuria. “The Nice” has dropped three of his final 4 appearances.
