Surging featherweight contender, Diego Lopes has booked his first fundamental occasion conflict in his Octagon tenure, taking over former title challenger, Yair Rodriguez at UFC Combat Night time Mexico Metropolis on March 29.
Lopes, the present quantity three ranked featherweight contender, has been sidelined since September, delivering a unanimous resolution win over former title chaser, Brian Ortega in a fundamental card conflict at Noche UFC on the Las Vegas Sphere.
As for Chihuahua native, Rodriguez, the previous and undisputed and interim featherweight title challenger has himself been out of motion since dropping his personal submission loss to Ortega within the pair’s rematch, and retains the quantity 5 rank at 145lbs.
Diego Lopes books UFC Mexico Metropolis headliner with Yair Rodriguez
Per sources, Diego Lopes vs Yair Rodriguez is within the works for UFC Mexico on March twenty ninth, focused to be the primary occasion,” Noecker posted on X.
Within the midst of a formidable five-fight profitable spree since a short-notice Octagon debut loss in opposition to the unbeaten, Movsar Evloev, Lopes turned in probably the most high-profile win of his brief tenure within the promotion together with his September resolution win over perennial contender, Ortega.
Obligatory Credit score: Zuffa LLC
Previous to that victory, Lopes would beat Dan Ige over the course of three rounds, following a trio of stoppage wins over Sodiq Yusuff, Pat Sabatini, and Gavin Tucker — stopping the three within the very first spherical in addition.
19-5(1) as knowledgeable, Rodriguez suffered his second consecutive defeat in his submission loss to Ortega, following a previous knockout loss to former champion, Alexander Volkanovski in his championship cost.
Profitable interim spoils in opposition to knockout artist, Josh Emmett in a visit to Australia again in 2023, Rodriguez additionally holds different notable victories over the likes or Ortega, Jeremy Stephens, Chan Sung Jung, Dan Hooker, Charles Rosa, and B.J. Penn.
