Diego Lopes has put himself in position to make the kind of waves that could rearrange coastlines in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division.
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As Lopes makes final preparations for his looming showdown with Ortega at 145 pounds, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. There are no lengths to which he will not go.
Lopes was born on Dec. 30, 1994 in Manaus, Brazil—a sprawling city of more than two million people situated 4,500 miles to the southeast of Ultimate Fighting Championship headquarters in Las Vegas.
2. Gold lines his portfolio.
The 29-year-old Brazilian established himself as a person of interest on various regional circuits long before he arrived in the UFC. Lopes captured titles in the LUX Fight League, Fury Fighting Championship, Xtreme Fighters Latino and Jasai Fighting League organizations.
3. He believes in equal-opportunity violence.
Lopes boasts 22 finishes among his 25 career victories—10 by knockout and 12 by submission. Fifteen of those stoppages have occurred inside one round, three of them inside the Octagon. Lopes dismissed Gavin Tucker with an armbar in 98 seconds at UFC on ESPN 50, punched out Pat Sabatini in 90 seconds at UFC 295 and wiped out Sodiq Yusuff with punches in 89 seconds at UFC 300.
4. He knows how to boost his pay.
The 5-foot-11 featherweight has been awarded three post-fight bonuses in his five UFC appearances. Lopes has earned “Fight of the Night” once and “Performance of the Night” twice, resulting in $150,000 of additional income.
5. Success breeds success in his inner circle.
The Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, Mexico, serves as Lopes’ base of operation. There, he has trained alongside a host of world-class stablemates, including Lupita Godinez, Irene Aldana and current UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso. Interestingly enough, Aldana and Grasso are also booked to compete at UFC 306.