Diego Lopes had been eyeing a showdown with Ilia Topuria, but understands Topuria’s decision to seek new challenges as he moves up to the lightweight division.
With Topuria vacating his featherweight title, Lopes will now face Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant belt in the main event of UFC 314 on April 12. The UFC has made it clear that champions must relinquish their title if they wish to pursue a second title in a different weight class.
Lopes stated, “If he is going to be a double champion, [he] will be nothing more than a champion of two categories.”
Topuria had an impressive run in the featherweight division, capturing the Fighter of the Year award and defeating top contenders like Volkanovski and Holloway. He is now eyeing a potential lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev.
Lopes, on a five-fight win streak, is ready to face Volkanovski for the title. While acknowledging Topuria’s accomplishments, Lopes believes there are still challenges for him in the featherweight division.
Lopes concluded, “If [Topuria] feels he has nothing else to do in the division, well he should move forward with his career.”
He added, “We have very good fighters in the division who could give [Topuria tough fights]. He has the right to believe his work in the division is done, and move on.”