Diego Lopes has a message for Australian fight fans — and it comes with an apology.
The Brazilian featherweight contender says he’s sorry for what he plans to do to the country’s greatest MMA fighter of all time in just over three weeks.
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Lopes, 29, touched down in Sydney this week ahead of his blockbuster rematch with Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 325 on February 1, where the champion will defend his belt on home soil for the first time.
Their first clash at UFC 314 in Miami last April ended in a unanimous-decision defeat for Lopes, but he’s adamant the rematch won’t even need the judges.
Volkanovski hasn’t fought in Sydney in nine years, and with Qudos Arena expected to be at fever pitch, the stage is set for one of the loudest nights of his career.
Which only makes Lopes’ prediction harder to swallow for locals — he says he’s knocking Volkanovski out.
“I’m sorry guys, but this is my plan,” he told Fox Sports Australia.
“This is my plan for coming here to Australia and taking the belt. This is my dream and this is my whole life.
“I’ve been working for this for a long time and now I feel like I have the experience for taking the belt.”
At 37, Volkanovski is into the twilight of a glittering career, and a knockout loss will certainly spark retirement talk — something Lopes insists he doesn’t want to see.
“I hope he doesn’t retire,” he said.
“He’s a legend… He’s done a lot for MMA, for the UFC and for Australia.”
Lopes is widely regarded as one of the most electrifying strikers in the division, highlighted by his spectacular spinning back-elbow knockout of Jean Silva at UFC Noche.
He also famously dropped Volkanovski in their first fight but was unable to finish the job. Since then, Lopes says he has rewatched the bout “many times” and identified several areas where he can improve.
“This time will be different,” he promised.
“I will have more confidence too. That first fight with Volk was my first fight for the belt, first pay per view, five rounds. That was all new to me.
“Now I have more experience and I don’t have that pressure. I didn’t enjoy it and now I am a lot happier going into this one.
“This time I’m not going to rush. After the second round, when I dropped him, I wanted that finish.
“This time I have a better strategy. My coach tells me that I don’t need to follow the knockout – the knockout is coming. So, this is my plan now.”
Aussie fight fans won’t take kindly to seeing Volkanovski beaten — but Lopes is hoping they don’t hold it against him.
“I hope the people don’t stay silent [if he knocks out Volkanovski],” he says.
“This is a global sport. I know he is the main guy here and he fights for Australia but I hope people are happy with my job.”
Lopes says his preparation for UFC 325 has been flawless — and notably, this is the third time he has trained specifically for Volkanovski.
Even during his camp for Silva, his eyes were firmly fixed on revenge against the Aussie icon.
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“The focus in the camp was never the game plan against Jean Silva. It was focused on Volkanovski.”
“I fixed many things. So I’m prepared for this fight. I’ve prepared for this fight for a long time.
“I’m a completely different Diego compared to my first fight with Volk – and compared to my last fight too. I’m still young. I’m still improving my fighting style. It’s a new day.”
Now based out of a Sydney gym with his team, Lopes says his early impressions of Australia have been overwhelmingly positive.
“I love Australia, bro,” he grinned. “I’m enjoying it a lot. Now I want to win a big fight here.”
The only thing he hasn’t fully sampled yet is the local food, with pre-fight discipline keeping him in check.
“I’m still looking for different things, but I have my chef here with me and he’s so strict on the diet right now.
“Maybe he will let me have lunch somewhere after this interview. I hope so.”
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