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Rising prospect Diego Lopes knows his unique hairstyle and impressive jiu-jitsu skills make him stand out from other athletes in the UFC featherweight division, but the Brazilian also realizes he needs more to make it to the next level.
In fact, these surely are some of the reasons why the 29-year-old is now booked to fight at UFC 300 even though he is only making his fourth Octagon appearance while having lost his debut. While Lopes continues to prepare to take on top 15 featherweight Sodiq Yusuff in April, he is aware of the big opportunity he has in front of himself.
Diego Lopes sees a big opportunity
Which is why, in a interview with Ag Fight, Diego Lopes explains what he intends to do to become even more popular in the promotion. Being Brazilian while living in Mexico already makes two very passionate nationalities support the athlete, which always can always come in handy, but the jiu-jitsu black belt does not feel like it is enough.
Though he already speaks fluent Portuguese and Spanish, Lopes now wants to enter English territory and win over some fans from English-speaking countries, which still make for most of the UFC public.
“It’s all about charisma. It’s about being spontaneous and interacting with people. Fortunately, I can fluently speak two languages, Portuguese and Spanish. I can express myself pretty well in both. I’ve been also learning English, a bit more privately, with people who speak English. I can already maintain a conversation with some of the people at my training camp. Our sport is known around the world, so we have to break these barriers in order to interact with the whole public.“
“I noticed how important it was to learn another language, it’s something that’s going to bring me closer to all the fans.“ Lopes said. “In the USA, Latin America, Brazil, everywhere. I’m becoming pretty popular in the USA already, I can tell from the people who follow me. 30% Mexico, 20% USA, 20% Brazil and the rest is from different countries. Having the support of all people is really good.“
Catch Diego Lopes at UFC 300
Currently on a two-fight win streak, Diego Lopes (23-6) knocked out Pat Sabatini and submitted Gavin Tucker in his most recent outings, respectively in August and November of 2023. In his UFC debut, the 29-year-old dropped a unanimous decision to Movsar Evloev in a performance that still earned him a ‘Fight of the Night’ award.
Meanwhile, Sodiq Yusuff will look to get back in the win column after dropping a unanimous decision to Edson Barboza in his last outing, in October 2023. Before the defeat, the 30-year-old was riding a two-fight win streak, with victories over Don Shainis and Alex Caceres, respectively in March and October of 2022.
Now, Diego Lopes is set to take on Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 300, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The April 13 card is scheduled to be headlined by a strawweight title fight between champion Zhang Weili and challenger Xiaonan Yan.