Diego Lopes may not be a household name in the combat sports world, but he has the potential. He’s on the right track become part of the roster in any major MMA organization.
Born in Brazil, Lopes (19-3) is the current featherweight champion of LUX Fight League, one of the best MMA organizations in Latin America. The promotion is based out of Mexico and streams regularly on UFC Fight Pass. Lopes is currently on a seven-fight winning streak. He’s 16-1 in his past 17 outings. Lopes has recent wins of over former UFC fighters Rony Jason, Marco Beltran and Masio Fullen. The 26-year-old fighter feels UFC-ready and is anxious to get a chance to prove himself in the big leagues.
“If you check out my last five fights, I’ve fought the toughest fighters of Latin America, some fighters who were in the UFC,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I also have a streak of seven wins in a row and three of those wins are against former UFC fighters. I feel that speaks to the level that I’m on. I’m ready to fight against the best and I’m working hard for that. When the opportunity comes, we’ll be ready to take it and make the most of it. We’re here and we’re ready.”
Although Lopes is a young man in his mid-twenties, his journey to establish himself as one of the best prospects has been a long one. Born and raised in Brazil, Lopes began training jiu-jitsu at an early age, as it was the tradition in his family to grapple. He quickly began competing at the age of seven. By 16 he was a purple belt. Not long after, his unintentional transition to MMA came knocking.
“For my first MMA fight, I actually never trained MMA,” Lopes said. “I was just doing jiu-jitsu and I would help my brother in his camps because he was fighting at the time. Then, one day my brother got offered a fight, but he didn’t take it because he was pretty experienced and the kid was just making his debut. So he asked me, ‘Hey, there’s this fight in a month.’ And I said, ‘Cool, yeah, I’m always down to compete in jiu-jitsu,’ and he was like, ‘No, this is MMA.’ I still just took it and since then we haven’t stopped.”
His debut was victorious. Lopes competed seven more times and went 5-2. Eight fights into his MMA career, Lopes was offered an opportunity to teach in Mexico by his jiu-jitsu instructor. At 19 years of age, Lopes took his coach up on the offer and relocated to Mexico where he began teaching. He later resumed his fighting career and went 5-0 before he suffered a 2018 stoppage loss at ACB 78 in Russia’s Chechnya.
“In that fight, I saw I had many things I needed to improve, and if I had addressed them, I would’ve won the fight,” Lopes said. “But anyways, it happened. I returned to Mexico very mad and I decided to stay in Guadalajara for a week to see how I felt. Things went well and we had a good friendship (with Lobo Gym) so I stayed a month in Guadalajara.”
Lopes previously taught a seminar the year before in Lobo Gym – where UFC’s Alexa Grasso and Irene Aldana train – and had built a friendship with head coach Francisco Grasso. Lopes had his own gym, Brazilian Warriors, in Puebla, Mexico, but began partnering and cross-training with Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, as he wanted to sharpen his striking following his ACB defeat.
Since partnering with Lobo Gym, Lopes is unbeaten. He feels his impressive run of 16-1 warrants a shot in the UFC, but visa issues have stopped him from getting a call to the biggest MMA promotion. Lopes had an appointment in Brazil for his visa on May 5, but it was postponed to Oct. 5 due to COVID-19 delays.
Lopes hopes to get that cleared up soon or sign with Dana White’s Contender Series, so the UFC can assist and speed up the process.
“Yeah, you can say that (the visa has stopped me from getting into the UFC),” Lopes said. “It’s something that happens to many fighters in Latin America who are ready but don’t have a visa. We’re doing things right, and we’re on the right path, so once I get the visa I can raise my hand and say, ‘Here I am. I’m ready to fight.’
“I don’t care if it’s next week. This is what I do. I do nothing but train. They can call me anytime for a fight at 145 pounds or 155 pounds on short notice. I’ll be ready.”
Meet Diego Lopes: UFC hopeful and one of Latin America’s brightest prospects
