“To have the support of all the people of Mexico and to feel their energy gives me great pleasure.” Diego Lopes has often expressed his gratitude for the Latin American country, as he continues to climb the ladder to the top of the UFC featherweight rankings. However, Mexico is not the country that the #3-ranked featherweight contender hails from.
So where exactly do Lopes’ roots lie? Is he a South American who moved to Mexico? Let’s take a deep dive and find out all about the featherweight star’s nationality and ethnicity.
Diego Lopes’ ethnicity and nationality
The UFC’s #3-ranked featherweight contender, Diego Lopes, was born on the 30th of December, 1994, in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Growing up in Brazil, the 30-year-old featherweight fighter found his love for combat sports at quite an early age. Having started his martial arts journey in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 7, he became a purple belt by the age of 16.
Lopes soon transitioned to training MMA full-time and made his professional debut in 2012, first making waves in the local MMA scene. Eventually, he made his UFC debut at UFC 288. He was even crowned as MMA Fighting’s 2023 ‘Rookie of the Year’ for his incredible performances against Movsar Evloev, Gavin Tucker, and Pat Sabatini.
Though Lopes lost in his MMA debut against Evloev, he gave everything he had in himself to win the fight. From barrages of submission attempts to trying to make the Russian dig deep for the win, the 30-year-old Brazilian managed to earn the respect of fight fans. Lopes even went on to win a Fight of the Night bonus that evening. Despite the shortcoming, the defeat marked the rise of Lopes, and he went on to win all of his next five fights. Three of those wins came via first-round finishes. And in two of his bouts, Lopes received a $50K Performance of the Night bonus. But if he hails from Brazil, why does Lopes fight out of Mexico?
Back when he was 19, with a 5-2 professional record, Lopes got the opportunity to train fighters as a BJJ instructor. When he resumed his fighting career, he faced a roadblock at ACB 78. Talking to MMA Junkie, he said, “In that fight, I saw I had many things I needed to improve, and if I had addressed them, I would’ve won the fight. But anyways, it happened. I returned to Mexico very mad and I decided to stay in Guadalajara for a week to see how I felt. Things went well and we had a good friendship (with Lobo Gym) so I stayed a month in Guadalajara.”
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Needless to say, Lopes has been rising to the top with supreme velocity. So does the Brazilian-born fighter out of Mexico have a faith that he aligns to? What religion does Diego Lopes ascribe to? Let’s find out.
What religion does Diego Lopes follow?
Well, like many others, Diego Lopes has not explicitly talked about his religious beliefs in public. But we can certainly make an educated guess going by a video on TikTok of him with hashtags like #godisgood, #jesuschrist, and #jesuslovesyou. This might suggest that the #3 UFC featherweight contender has faith in the teachings of Christ. On top of that, Brazil has the biggest population of Catholics in the world, so Lopes might just be catholic.
Today, Lopes has come a long way, as he stands on the cusp of being a champion against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314. The fight will indeed be for the featherweight title. With a score of 26-6 on his professional MMA record, Lopes has finally found his way to the top. All that he needs to do now is rise victorious over the former 2-time featherweight champion. But as the date for the bout inches closer, the #3-ranked featherweight contender found himself a new enemy. And that’s none other than Yair Rodriguez. So, what exactly went wrong between the two? Let’s find out!
Diego Lopes’ unexpected beef with Yair Rodriguez
Well, the beef between Lopes and Rodriguez began in 2019 when the 30-year-old Brazilian defended his belt at Lux Fight League against Marco Beltran. The bout ended in the first round with Lopes winning via a KO by kneebar. Unfortunately, Beltran was one of Rodriguez’s close friends. So drama ensued when a reporter asked Lopes about a potential fight against ‘El Pantera’ at the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference, and the Manaus-born athlete simply brushed it off, pointing at Rodriguez’s losing streak.
And Lopes’ words infuriated ‘El Pantera’. He remarked, “P—–. Didn’t you jump Marco [Beltran] between you and your team? Didn’t you jump Marco with your team? Yes or no? I’ve been waiting for the right moment to tell you this to your f—— face. You’re going to pay for Marco.” But Lopes happened to lash back, claiming that Rodriguez threatened one of his female teammates.
He shouted, “Talk about my team, and the same thing that happened to him will happen to you. You threatened her, you threatened her. You threatened a girl, and you’re going to pay.” As the security intervened, Rodriguez was heard saying, “Don’t twist up words.”
Well, drama has engulfed the featherweight division as Lopes and ‘The Great’ get ready to fight for the title. But the fighting community has already begun dreaming about a bout between Lopes and Rodriguez. With the beef lighting up the featherweight division, we can rest assured to be greatly entertained in the near future, don’t you think?
But do you think Lopes can claim a win against Volkanovski at UFC 314? Who do you think will cheer the loudest for the 30-year-old? Will it be the Brazilian fans or the Mexican? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Where is Diego Lopes from? Amazon and Mexican roots behind UFC star appeared first on EssentiallySports.
