Diego Lopes desires to speak to the UFC before deciding on his next move.
Lopes was beaten by Alexander Volkanovski earlier this month in his second attempt at winning the featherweight title.
A 3rd shot on the belt would require the Brazilian to provide some more big wins, especially if ‘The Great’ hangs on to the 145 pound gold.
After Volkanovski spoke about Lopes ‘wasting his probability’ of their recent clash, the challenger spoke about whether he could move divisions consequently.
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Diego Lopes says he needs to talk with the UFC before committing to lightweight move
Diego Lopes recently stated that he’s been desirous about potentially moving as much as lightweight for a while.
Ahead of his recent featherweight title fight, Lopes said that it could possibly be his last probability to win the belt, seemingly suggesting that he could be leaving the division within the near future.
“It’s something I’ve actually been desirous about for some time now,” Lopes told Laerte Viana in a recent interview. “I’ve already been talking with the people closest to me, and yes, it’s definitely a possibility.”
He went on so as to add that he needs to talk to the UFC first before committing to a move to 155 kilos.
Given the connection that he has with the promotion, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Lopes back in featherweight title contention within the near future, especially if Alexander Volkanovski loses the belt.
“We also should see what the UFC’s plans are, right? So first, I need to take a seat down, discuss with the UFC, see what they take into account for me, see what they’ll tell me,” he said. “Then we’ll also give them our opinion from there but yes, moving up a division is unquestionably a possibility.”
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Diego Lopes clearly has the frame to compete at lightweight
The likes of Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway are only two examples of featherweight fighters achieving success after moving up a weight class.
Diego Lopes will likely be at a size drawback against some lightweights on the roster but as one in every of the larger fighters at 145 kilos, he clearly has the frame to make this switch.
Taking the highest five ranked fighters at 155 kilos and putting them side-by-side with Lopes shows that he’s greater than a physical match for them, in keeping with UFC Stats.
| UFC fighter | Height | Reach |
| Diego Lopes | 5’11” | 72” |
| Ilia Topuria | 5’7” | 69” |
| Justin Gaethje | 5’11” | 70” |
| Arman Tsarukyan | 5’7” | 72” |
| Charles Oliveira | 5’10” | 74” |
| Max Holloway | 5’11” | 69” |
If anything, when these stats, it’s impressive that Lopes has been capable of compete at featherweight for such a protracted time before contemplating this move.