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Who is Diego Lopes? The Amazon-born brawler taking over the UFC featherweight division

As a top fighter in the Featherweight division, Diego Lopes is one to watch in the UFC today.

Born in Manaus in the Amazon rainforest, it has been a long journey for Diego Lopes to make it in the UFC. He started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a child, and began his professional MMA career at the age of 17.

At 19, he moved to Mexico to train as he developed as a fighter and made a name for himself in the world of MMA. This led to Lopes’ UFC debut in 2023, where he has quickly become a top name in the UFC Featherweight division.

UFC 306 at Riyadh Season Noche UFC - Official Weigh-in
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

What age is Diego Lopes?

Diego Lopes is 30 years old and was born on December 30, 1994. He grew up in Brazil in Manaus, a city located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

His family all trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Lopes followed in the family tradition. Few details are known about his family, but Lopes promised his parents a better life after he left Brazil to train in Mexico.

He trained at the Lobo Gym in Mexico, where he met the likes of Francisco Grasso and former UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso.

Diego Lopes’ height, weight, and reach

Lopes stands at 5 feet 9 inches and fights in the 145lb Featherweight division in the UFC.

For his last fight, the Brazilian weighed in at 146lbs, the same as his opponent Brian Ortega on the night. He has a reach of 72.5 inches or 184cm.

Diego Lopes’ Instagram and X/Twitter accounts

Lopes is fairly popular on Instagram. The Brazilian fighter has 586,000 followers as of April 2025 and mainly posts training photos, promotions for his upcoming fights, and some photos and clips of him outside the gym, including doing his hobbies. His handle is diegolopesmma.

The UFC fighter is also on X (formerly known as Twitter), where he regularly interacts with fans and comments about his day-to-day life. Lopes has 26,100 followers on X, and you can interact with him at his handle DiegolopesMMA.

Diego Lopes’ MMA record

WLD(T)KOSUB
26-7-010-212-0

Diego Lopes’ MMA stats

Significant Strikes Landed per Minute4.20
Significant Striking Accuracy54%
Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute4.11
Significant Strike Defense (the % of opponents’ strikes that did not land)51%
Average Takedowns Landed per 15 minutes0.50
Takedown Accuracy40%
Takedown Defense (the % of opponents’ TD attempts that did not land)53%
Average Submissions Attempted per 15 minutes2.76

Diego Lopes’ net worth

With 6 UFC fights under his belt with only 1 defeat, Lopes is well on his way to making big money in his career.

According to MMA Salaries, Lopes made $304,000 beating Dan Ige at UFC 303. If this is correct then we can assume an equal or bigger salary for his victory over Ortega at UFC 306.

However, there is little information about Lopes’ total net worth, and the numbers reported can fluctuate by a great deal.

Diego Lopes’ next fight

Diego Lopes does not have a fight scheduled after his win over Jean Silva at Noche UFC 3.

Diego Lopes’ walk-out song

Lopes is known for switching up his walk-out music and likes to keep people guessing what song he’ll come out to next.

In his most recent fight, where Lopes beat Ortega at UFC 306, the Brazilian walked out to the Mexican hit “La Chona” by the band Los Tucanes de Tijuana.

Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva

The main event of Noche UFC 3 saw Lopes land a spectacular knockout against Jean Silva to stake his claim as the top Featherweight contender in the division.

Silva looked like he had a good chance of shocking Lopes in the fight, but it only lasted until the second round in San Antonio, Texas.

Lopes knocked out the Brazilian with a spectacular spinning back elbow to win the fight, taking home the Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses.

Diego Lopes vs. Movsar Evloev

Few fighters have had a debut so chaotic yet almost go so brilliant as Lopes. He stepped in with just five days’ notice for his first fight in the UFC, filling in at short notice as a replacement for Bryce Mitchell at UFC 288 to fight Movsar Evloev.

He went into the fight without the luxury of a training camp to prepare him for the fight. He came out of the blocks firing with some big punches to Evloev, stunning the #10 contender at the time.

While he slowed down as the cardio difference became clear, Lopes locked in a Kimura that almost made his opponent tap out. Evloev barely escaped, but won the bout by unanimous decision in what was a plucky performance by the debuting Brazilian.

Diego Lopes vs. Brian Ortega

One of the biggest wins of Lopes’ career was his win over Ortega in the Sphere at UFC 306.

He patiently controlled the fight and the judges agreed, awarding Lopes the unanimous victory in his highest-profile fight yet in the UFC.

This was Ortega’s last Featherweight clash before moving up to Lightweight and he left the division with a stunning loss to the Brazilian. Lopes dominated the fight, dropping Ortega with a combination early on in the first round and keeping control throughout the fight.

Diego Lopes vs Alexander Volkanovski

Lopes lost his five-fight winning streak at UFC 314 when he suffered a five-round decision loss to UFC Featherweight champion Volkanovski.

The two fighters traded some barbaric blows throughout the 25 minutes, with Volkanovski reacting poorly to some big hits from Lopes.

However, the champion did enough to earn a victory over Lopes and retain his title.