Diego Lopes has rapidly become one of the biggest stars in the UFC, but his MMA journey started with a heartbreaking vow to his family.
On April 12 at UFC 314, Diego Lopes will take on Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant UFC featherweight title after Ilia Topuria shockingly vacated the belt.
Despite the fight coming as a surprise, Lopes is riding an impressive five-fight win streak and has previously called out Volkanovski for a fight.
Ahead of the biggest fight of his career thus far, Lopes and ‘The Great’ have already faced off with each other at the pre-fight press conference, and Volkanovski hilariously serenaded him with a song.
Diego Lopes made heartbreaking vow to his family before starting his MMA journey
Lopes’ UFC debut back in 2023 came under relatively unfortunate circumstances after he was given a late-notice opportunity to step in to fight Movsar Evloev.
After narrowly losing the fight, the Brazilian hasn’t lost since and earned his title shot by dominating Brian Ortega at UFC 306 last September.
Although Lopes’ journey to the top seems to have been a rapid one, it was never that simple.
The 30-year-old, who was born in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, began competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at a young age. However, his career took a turn at just 19 years old when he was offered the opportunity to move to Mexico to take his training to the next level.
Lopes began training at Lobo Gym in Mexico with the likes of Francisco Grasso and former UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso.
Having come from nothing, before moving to Mexico, Lopes made a heartbreaking vow to his family, which set him on his way in his career.
“Yeah, I never said I was going to come back, but I remember perfectly some words I said to my mom and dad and especially to my siblings too, since we’re a very close family,” Lopes began to explain in an interview with ESPN MMA.
“I said, ‘I’m going there, and I only want to come back and see you when I can provide a better life for you.’ And I think things happened little by little. These days, I can come back and I can provide a better life for them.
“So that has been my promise to them, and it is something that has kept me strong. Not wanting to fail them with that promise, because I dropped out of school, I left everything behind to pursue that dream, and I couldn’t let them down,” Lopes continued.
Alexander Volkanovski swims with sharks ahead of UFC 314 title fight
With Lopes training extremely hard for his first UFC title opportunity, Alexander Volkanovski already knows what it takes to reach the top of the mountain.
During his UFC 314 fight camp, ‘The Great’ has been thrill seeking by swimming with sharks in Australia.
UFC fans will be hoping that Volk’s thrill seeking doesn’t lead to any last minute changes to the UFC 314 schedule.