Diego Lopes is no stranger to being put in big spots in the UFC, and on Sunday, he’ll get to open the historic UFC White House card and have the chance to be a pivotal tone-setter.
The recent two-time featherweight title challenger faces surging contender Steve Garcia at the event. Lopes makes his first appearance since dropping a decision against champion Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch at UFC 325 at the beginning of the year.
Lopes is thrilled to be in this position, and believes the matchup provides a perfect opportunity to send a reminder to the MMA community of what he can do.
“Steve Garcia, now he’s in a great position too,” Lopes told MMA Fighting. “This happened with me before I come to the top-five. I had the opportunity to fight for the No. 3 guy. [That] time it was with Brian Ortega, and I know the motivation for proving to stay in the top-five. I know he now has a lot of [hunger] to prove this. I know he has a lot of confidence in himself — seven straight wins, six knockouts.
“I know he has a lot of power in the hands. I know he’s so aggressive. I know he wants a shot for the belt, too, because if he [can] win this fight, maybe he have the [chance] to fight for the belt. But I’m still here, bro. I’m still here. I proved this one time. I can’t wait to prove it again.”
Garcia enters the bout on a seven-fight win streak, including a first-round knockout in his inaugural UFC headliner against David Onama at UFC Vegas 110 this past November. “Mean Machine” also holds a lopsided decision win against Calvin Kattar during his impressive run.
While Lopes is impressed with what Garcia has done, he believes there’s a big X-factor on his side: Big fight experience against top contenders.
“Yeah, I think [experience], it’s a big deal for me,” Lopes said. “It’s a big factor, and think it’s the big difference for this fight. I have the experience for fighting for my position in the UFC, I have the experience for fighting for the belt. I have the experience to fight [to] defend my position too, and I have experience for fighting the [newer guys in the] UFC [that are] hungry for taking your spot.
“So I have this whole experience for in the cage. I know the things I need to do for taking the fight, for taking the win.”
Many are pinpointing the Lopes vs. Garcia bout as frontrunner for Fight of the Night on the South Lawn, and with the two styles clashing together, it’s hard to argue with the logic.
Fighters tend to not want to overpromise and underdeliver, but Lopes feels it’s a safe bet that the 145-pound opener has a very good chance to steal the entire show.
“Oh man, the fans can expect like the best fight they’ve ever seen,” Garcia predicts. “Because I think Steve Garcia has the perfect style for putting on a great show. I have the style for put a great show. Always, I look for the finish, Steve Garcia, too. I think he’s like 15 knockouts, finishes in the career. I have more like 22 finishes in my career.
“I think, 100 percent, this fight is not going to go for the distance.”
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