The meteoric rise of Diego Lopes through the UFC’s featherweight division reached a new level this week when the Brazilian was confirmed to be the backup fighter for UFC 308’s main event between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway next month.
Lopes only made his first appearance inside the Octagon in May of 2023 when he took on Movsar Evloev at UFC 288 on just five days’ notice. While he ultimately lost by unanimous decision, his all-action display certainly turned some heads, and three consecutive first round finishes over Gavin Tucker, Pat Sabatini and Sodiq Yusuff over an eight-month period marked Lopes as a potential future title contender at 145lbs.