Diego Lopes Speaks After Losing at UFC 314
Diego Lopes fell short in the main event of UFC 314 last night at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. He squared off against former Featherweight champion Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski for the vacant Featherweight title, losing by unanimous decision.
The title was vacated as the fight began, with prior champion Ilia Topuria vacating the belt to move up to Lightweight. Volkanovski silenced the doubters, reclaiming his Featherweight title after back-to-back KO losses to Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev.
Volkanovski became the first fighter from Welterweight and below to win a title beyond 35 years old. With many questioning the age, motivation and durability of Volkanovski, he claimed it was a ‘privilege’ to overcome adversity:
“Man, a lot of people counted me out. Right? Coming off two knockout losses. The 35-year-old curse, 36 years old, big break — and come back and beat a gun like Diego Lopes, who comes and brings it? Mate, it’s good to be back. For everyone watching, hey, adversity is a privilege. You hear people talk about that all the time. It truly is. This moment is incredible.”
Whilst Alex was ecstatic Lopes unfortunately fell short on his first title shot. It was a competitive fight in which Lopes visibly hurt Volkanovski on several occassions.
Ultimately, the speed and intensity of ‘The Great’ was too much to overcome. Since the loss, Diego Lopes has taken to social media to reflect on the event.
Diego Lopes Issues a Statement
On a recent post to X Diego Lopes has commented on his UFC 314 main event defeat, thanking fans for their support:
“Always with my head held high, a smile on my face. I fell short last night, I failed in a few things. I’ll get back to work, improve, correct the mistakes, and move forward. Thank you all for your support. As I always say, ‘NOTHING HAPPENS’.”
Regardless of defeat, Lopes made a good name for himself, showing that he belongs at the top of the 145lb division. Given the pre-fight feud with Yair Rodriguez, who also fought and won at UFC 314, a fight between the two seems a logical title eliminator.
Especially since the new champion, Volkanovski, showed interest in a fight with undefeated Movsar Evloev before and after UFC 314.
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