Diego Lopez recently revealed his immediate career plans.
Lopez entered the featherweight title race with a unanimous decision win over Brian Ortega at UFC 306. Since losing a unanimous decision to Movsar Evloev in his UFC debut, Lopez has won five straight bouts, including three by finish.
Meanwhile, Evloev has offered Lopez a rematch after his original opponent, Aljamain Sterling, cancelled their UFC 307 bout scheduled for October 5. But having fought Evloev once before on short notice, Lopez isn’t keen for a rematch unless UFC guarantees him a title fight with a chance to win against the unbeaten Russian.
“The only way this fight could happen is if UFC really said, ‘OK, if you fight him and win, you’re next up for the belt,'” Lopez recently told MMAFighting.com. “That’s the only way this fight can happen at this point, and I want a full camp. It’s a no-brainer for him to call me, knowing I just fought two weeks ago. I’ve called on him multiple times to fight with a full camp, but he didn’t want that. There’s zero chance that I would accept this fight right now or fight him on short notice.”
Meanwhile, former champion Max Holloway will challenge Ilia Topuria for the title in the main event of UFC 308 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 26. Lopez wants to take part in the bout as a backup fighter and has already notified UFC, but if that doesn’t happen, he wants to fight former champion Alexander Volkanovski in December.
“If that doesn’t happen, I would love the possibility of fighting Volkanovski in December,” Lopez said. “He doesn’t like to wait and neither do I, so it could be a good fight. A lot of things could happen, but I think the two most realistic options for us at this point are to be a backup fighter in Abu Dhabi or to fight Volkanovski in December. UFC is aware that I am available for the fight. [UFC 308]So it depends on what they want to do.”
Volkanovski is 1-3 in his last four fights, including two failed attempts to double-clinch the lightweight division against Islam Makhachev. “The Great” lost his featherweight title when he was knocked out by Topuria at UFC 298 in February of this year. As for a potential matchup with Volkanovski, Lopez said their ability to adapt is what makes it exciting.
“The Volk fight will be very interesting because he’s shown he can adapt to anyone’s style, especially when they’re taller than him, up until the Topuria fight,” Lopez said. “But I think he can adapt to someone shorter too, so it will be a very interesting fight.”
