Diego Lopes

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: UFC 300 review, Holloway wins BMF title, Makhachev & McGregor return, more

On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses the fallout of UFC 300 including, Holloway’s BMF win, McGregor’s return, and more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate everything around UFC 300:

The UFC reached its 300th pay-per-view event, a big milestone for the Las Vegas-based promotion. Where does this massive event rank in UFC history? On paper, it was a great card, and it delivered as promised.
[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] arguably made the biggest statement on Saturday night. The former UFC featherweight champion knocked out [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] in brutal fashion with one second remaining in the fight for the BMF title. So what’s next for Holloway? Should he stay at 155 pounds or go back to 145? Holloway has many options after this career-defining win.
On top of Holloway’s win, there were several other important lightweight bouts, as well as other lightweight bookings announced: [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag] defeated former champion [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag], [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag] stopped Jalin Turner and [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] picked apart Jim Miller. Additionally, the [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] title defense vs. [autotag]Dutin Poirier[/autotag] was made official, along with the return of [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], who faces lightweight standout [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] in a welterweight bout. Big news and results that heavily impact the UFC lightweight division.
In the main event of UFC 300, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] successfully defended his light heavyweight belt for the very first time, knocking out [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag]. It was a huge win for the Brazilian, who requested a heavyweight fight in a quick turnaround at UFC 301 in Brazil next month.
In the other undisputed title fight, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] defended her UFC strawweight belt against fellow Chinese fighter [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag]. It was a solid showing by Weili, who logged the second title defense of her second championship reign.
[autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] made a huge splash on Saturday night. In a dominant showing, she submitted former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag], a victory that even caught the attention of former two-division UFC champion [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]. What’s next for Harrison? Is she a future UFC champion? We unpack it all.
Lastly, several other big storylines went down at UFC 300. The panel quickly reviews [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s featherweight debut, [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s submission win, [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]’ most recent first-round finish and more.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

Diego Lopes aims to become the first to stop Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 300: ‘That’s my objective’

Diego Lopes wants to finish Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 300 and send a message to the UFC featherweight division.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] thinks he has a massive opportunity to make a statement.

The fan-favorite UFC featherweight is set to fight on the massive UFC 300 event Saturday in Las Vegas, as he takes on veteran [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] on the preliminary card. It’s a big spotlight for any fighter, and that’s why Lopes (23-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) wants to make the most of it. That means not only defeating Yusuff (13-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC), but also becoming the first man to stop him.

“That’s my objective,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I want to finish the fight against Sodiq and send a clear message that there’s a new contender in the division. That’s the message I look for and want to send to everyone.”

Lopes highly respects Yusuff and thinks defeating him is an automatic entry into the rankings. The Brazilian acknowledges he has a tough task at hand, but he prepared to not let the fight go to a decision.

“I know he’s a very consistent fighter in the UFC, and he’s someone that’s fought very good names in the division,” Lopes said. “He only has two defeats in the UFC, which came against Edson Barboza, who’s a legend of the sport, and Arnold Allen, who’s like six or seven in the rankings. This is a very important fight for me. It’s helped me work harder, and I’m focused on becoming the first person to finish Sodiq Yusuff in the UFC.”

Yusuff aside, Lopes is stoked to be part of UFC 300. He’s been with the promotion for less than a year and is glad the UFC considered him for the event despite his short tenure in the promotion.

“I’m going to be part of history,” Lopes said. “I’m at a spot a lot of fighters dream of and wanted to be in. Every fighter in the UFC wanted a spot because of the magnitude and all the impact the event is going to cause. As we know, this is a historic event, the 300th UFC pay-per-view. There’s only one in the history, and I’ll be part of it. It’s incredible.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Everything UFC 300 – Pereira vs. Hill, BMF title fight, Harrison’s debut, more

On this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses everything UFC 300.

Check out this week’s special edition of “Spinning Back Clique,” where we’ll be breaking down everything UFC 300.

This week’s panel will be composed of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia – along with appearances from Matt Wells, Mike Bohn, Farah Hannoun, Dan Tom, and Nolan King.

For this Monday’s special episode, the panel discussed:

The pair of undisputed UFC championship fights headlining UFC 300. In the main event, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] makes his first light heavyweight title defense against former champion [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag], who returns from injury. In the co-main event, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] takes on fellow Chinese fighter [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] in a women’s strawweight bout.
The first-ever Baddest Motherf*cker title defense, as BMF champion [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] welcomes back [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] to the lightweight division. Other key lightweight bouts go down, including [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag], [autotag]Jalin Turner[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag], [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag].
Highly-touted undefeated middleweight prospect [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s return to action. He takes on Cody Brundage in the opening bout of the pay-per-view main card. This will be Nickal’s third fight under the UFC banner.
Two-time PFL champion and two-time Judo Olympic gold medalist [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] makes her highly awaited UFC debut. She takes on former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] at bantamweight – a division Harrison will be debuting in. Harrison has previously fought at 155 and 145 pounds.
Former UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] has moved up to featherweight. Veteran contender [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] welcomes him to the division.
To cap off the show, the panel will do a quick promo breakdown to hype up the four remaining bouts of the UFC 300 card. This includes [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag], [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag], [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag], and [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag].

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 22-28)

Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 22-28.

Diego Lopes vs. Sodiq Yusuff joins stacked UFC 300 lineup

Diego Lopes, MMA Junkie’s 2023 Newcomer of the Year, has his first assignment of 2024 on the biggest of stages.

Rising star [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] will be featured on the UFC’s historic 300th event.

Lopes takes on [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] in a featherweight bout April 13 at UFC 300 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie following an initial report from Instagram account Freak MMA.

Lopes (23-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC), MMA Junkie’s 2023 Newcomer of the Year, emerged as one of the most popular fighters this past year. After falling short in a valiant effort against unbeaten contender Movsar Evloev at UFC 288, Lopes scored back-to-back first-round finishes of Gavin Tucker in August and Pat Sabatini at UFC 295.

Yusuff (13-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) will look to rebound from his Fight of the Night war against Edson Barboza, which headlined UFC Fight Night 230 in October. Prior to that, the Dana White’s Contender Series alum won eight of his past nine, including wins over Andre Fili and Alex Caceres.

The latest UFC 300 lineup now includes:

Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway – for BMF title
Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan – for strawweight title
Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Kayla Harrison vs. Holly Holm
Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt
Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
Cody Brundage vs. Bo Nickal
Diego Lopes vs. Sodiq Yusuff

[lawrence-related id=2696373,2695328,2687648]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

24 fights on our 2024 MMA wish list: Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones (still), Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 3, more

Here’s MMA Junkie’s 24-fight wishlist for the new year.

2023 didn’t disappoint in terms of great MMA action, and 2024 looks just as promising, if not more.

With 2024 underway, there’s a new year of fresh possibilities for dream matchups across the MMA landscape, from the UFC to Bellator, PFL, RIZIN FF, ONE Championship and more.

For 2023, unfortunately, only four of the 23 dream fights MMA Junkie wished for came to fruition. We’re not deterred, however, and are back with another slate of 24 matchups we aspire to see in 2024.

Below, we present MMA Junkie’s wish list of 24 fights we’d like to see in 2024.

MMA Junkie’s 2023 Coach of the Year: Francisco Grasso

Coach Francisco Grasso left a big imprint in MMA, as he was responsible for some of the biggest moments this 2023.

The name [autotag]Francisco Grasso[/autotag] probably didn’t ring a bell entering 2023, but leaving the past calendar year, it’s associated with UFC gold and Mexican MMA history.

Francisco, or better known as “Pancho,” truly let his work speak for himself. In a sport where media attention or public narrative often sways the appreciation of fighters or moments in time, Francisco left a big imprint in 2023 without ever doing an English-language interview and very limited interviews in Spanish.

Francisco had his hand in many important moments this 2023, but most notably he made history with his niece – [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag]. Under the tutelage of Francisco, Alexa became the first-ever Mexican female champion in the UFC, and they did it when many thought it was impossible.

Alexa was up against an all-time great, one of the most dominant champions in UFC history, regardless of gender and weight class. Alexa and her team, led by Francisco, had the tough task of dethroning Valentina Shevchenko, who at that point had seven consecutive title defenses and had never lost at flyweight.

The Grasso bloodline ended up pulling off one of the biggest upsets of 2023, and made history for their home country. Against all odds, Alexa submitted Shevchenko in March at UFC 285. It was a remarkable moment that highlighted the great work being done at Lobo Gym in Guadalajara. The two would return six months later in September to fight Shevchenko to a draw.

Even though it wasn’t a win, the fact that Grasso retained her belt and fought Shevchenko in a highly competitive decision, proved that the upset in March was no fluke and that Francisco and his team had truly leveled up to a world-class gym.

Francisco’s work as a coach was responsible for MMA Junkie’s Female Fighter of the Year and one of the biggest upsets as well. It’s incredible how much impact Lobo Gym had in MMA, given it’s not in a country with a strong history in MMA and is relatively small compared to titans such as American Top Team, AKA, Kill Cliff, and others.

On top of the historic win of Alexa, other results accompanied Francisco’s success as a coach in 2023. It wasn’t Alexa’s rise alone:

Francisco was responsible for MMA Junkie’s Female Fighter of the Year, and also MMA Junkie’s Newcomer of the Year.

[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] had a huge impact in 2023 and enters 2024 as one of the most interesting prospects. Working with Francisco as both a fighter and assistant coach, Lopes showed brilliance every second he was in the octagon.

He gave a wild, Fight of the Night against unbeaten title contender Mosvar Evloev, a fight he took on 4 days’ notice. Following his debut, Lopes picked up a first-round submission win over Gavin Tucker in August and then a first-round KO over Pat Sabatini in November. He won $50,000 Performance of the Night bonuses in both finishes.

Loopy Godinez

[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag] made history with Lobo Gym in 2023. She became the woman with the most wins in a calendar year, having her hand raised four times in the octagon.

Francisco took Loopy Godinez under his wing mid-2023, but Godinez had worked part-time with Lobo Gym for fights earlier in the year. There’s no denying that Godinez turned a corner with Lobo Gym, as she looked highly dominant and got herself in the top 10 of the UFC official strawweight rankings with her win over Tabatha Ricci in November.

Irene Aldana

Francisco got top UFC women’s bantamweight contender [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] to challenge Amanda Nunes for her title at UFC 289. Certainly, it was a disappointing performance from Aldana, who was dominated from bell to bell. However, people forget that just getting to a UFC title fight alone is a big achievement few fighters accomplish in their careers.

Aldana would return to UFC 296 in December to redeem herself and defeat Karol Rosa while delivering arguably the best female fighter of the year.

Alessandro Costa

[autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] picked up a big win over Jimmy Flick in June, putting him away with some nasty elbows. He then took on ranked fighter Steve Erceg and lost a competitive decision. Although Costa closed out the year with a loss, he still shows promise in the UFC’s flyweight division.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

MMA Junkie’s 2023 Newcomer of the Year: Diego Lopes

Diego Lopes had a stellar year in the UFC, making him MMA Junkie’s 2023 Newcomer of the Year.

Let’s be honest: A 2-1 record in the UFC is far from remarkable. Yet, [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] somehow made it work into something special and quite promising.

The Brazilian featherweight enamored the MMA world in just three UFC fights in 2023. Results and records in MMA are usually indicative of success or failure, yet, for Lopes (23-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC), these markers don’t tell his full story from the past year.

Perhaps Lopes’ biggest win came wrapped as an official defeat. At UFC 288 in May, a key featherweight bout pitting ranked, rising contenders Movsar Evloev and Bryce Mitchell was scheduled to go down on the main card. But four days away from the fight, Mitchell was forced out and a mostly unknown Lopes, who had lost on Dana White’s Contender Series two years prior, got the call to fill in as replacement.

To many, and without fault, Lopes was just a body – a regional fighter who accepted a default loss just to get entry into the UFC. But that wasn’t what Lopes wanted his truth to be, and he made sure to let people know.

In a shocking and fun turn of events, Lopes gave Evloev by far the toughest fight of his UFC career and came close to taking the undefeated record from the highly touted Russian title contender. Lopes was in attack mode for the full 15 minutes. Submission attempt after submission attempt, Lopes had Evloev fighting for his proverbial life. In the end, Evloev got his hand raised, but the fight world was far more impressed with what Lopes did that night. With just a few days’ notice, Lopes made weight and gave a tough fight to an unbeaten top-10 opponent – something no other UFC fighter had done prior.

Lopes also took home an extra $50,000 for his part in the Fight of the Night winner – and one of the best fights of 2023. That was a win – unofficially, anyway.

Lopes’ failed UFC debut created the base for his hype, but he had to back it up.

The Lobo Gym fighter and coach returned three months later and needed just 98 seconds to submit Gavin Tucker on the main card of UFC on ESPN 50. Lopes won another $50,000 bonus for his masterful armbar finish.

Then in a quick return in November, Lopes opened up the pay-per-view main card of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden against Pat Sabatini, who was 5-1 in the promotion. It was a big moment for the prospect, and again, Lopes delivered another first-round Performance of the Night finish with a knockout of Sabatini in 90 seconds.

The hype was real. The wild and close defeat to Evloev was no flash in the pan. Lopes proved in his subsequent fights that not only was he UFC ready, but he also is a must-watch menace.

Other factors peripheral to Lopes’ in-cage performances also contributed to his impact in 2023, including some amazing hair, a playful social media presence and being part of the team that led to the the biggest upset of 2023: Alexa Grasso’s submission of Valentina Shevchenko to become the UFC’s women’s flyweight champion.

For a fighter who’s just 2-1 in the UFC, Diego Lopes has had a massive impression on the MMA world. That’s why he’s MMA Junkie’s 2023 Newcomer of the Year.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

UFC 295 ‘Fight Motion’: Five main-card finishes in super-slow mo

With five finishes on the pay-per-view main card, UFC 295 certainly made its case for Event of the Year.

In the main event, former middleweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] became a two-division champion by knocking out Jiri Prochazka to claim the light heavyweight title. And in the co-main event, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] won the interim heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovic.

[autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag], [autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag] and [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] also scored impressive finishes on the Nov. 11 main card at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Check out all the highlights in super-slow motion in the UFC 295 “Fight Motion” video highlights above.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=420030788]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

UFC’s Diego Lopes makes case for Francisco Grasso as 2023 Coach of the Year

UFC featherweight prospect Diego Lopes makes a strong case for Francisco Grasso as the MMA Coach of the Year for 2023.

Francisco Grasso quietly has made some big statements in 2023 with his Lobo Gym team.

Training in Guadalajara, Mexico, Grasso, better known as “Pancho,” achieved plenty in a way few have done before, since historically, few gyms in Mexico have been able to stand out and leave their footprints in MMA.

Yet, this relatively unknown figure, who doesn’t do much media, coached his daughter, Alexa Grasso, to become the first Mexican woman to win a UFC title when she submitted all-time great Valentina Shevchenko in one of the biggest upsets of the year. On top of that, “Pancho” helped Alexa keep that title when she fought to a draw with Shevchenko at Noche UFC, which was the first UFC event to celebrate Mexican Independence Day.

But the success of Lobo Gym doesn’t stop there. “Pancho” also coached Irene Aldana to a UFC women’s bantamweight title shot; coached Loopy Godinez into the UFC women’s strawweight rankings; and coached [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] and Alessandro Costa into the UFC.

Despite the success, “Pancho” hasn’t made much fuss about it.

“‘Pancho’ is very discrete,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “He’s a person that doesn’t need the world’s attention like other people. Little by little, people are realizing, and the recognition is more.

“Each time, more people recognize him and congratulate him on the work he’s doing. Many people recognize him as a great coach. We already knew that a long time ago. More and more, people are bringing him up for Coach of the Year. Even Jon Anik said ‘Pancho’ could be a candidate for Coach of the Year.”

[lawrence-related id=1987969,2696373,2695606]

Lopes (23-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who’s also Lobo Gym’s jiu-jitsu coach, naturally is biased, but said the facts play it out for “Pancho” to be considered the year’s best coach.

“Looking at the facts – not because he’s our coach and our mentor – but if you look at the fact that we don’t have the same resources as a gym in the United States, (‘Pancho’ looks even better). We’re in Guadalajara,” Lopes said. “In 2018, people were saying that (Aldana and Alexa) needed to leave ‘Pancho’ and go to another gym to be champion, and look at what happened.

“We kept working, and five years later, Alexa is champion. Irene fought for a title. Loopy Godinez joined the team, and she’s now in the rankings. Alessandro is fighting against ranked fighters. I’m fighting to get in the rankings. We’re five fighters fighting at the highest level. It’s not like we’re five fighters and just one stands out. We’re all standing out. … All this is thanks to ‘Pancho.'”

Lopes thinks “Pancho” should get more credit, given where they come from and the size of the gym.

“If you look at other gyms, they all have big staffing,” Lopes said. “They have a jiu-jitsu coach, a striking coach, a boxing coach, a wrestling coach, a coach for this and that. But ‘Pancho’ does everything by himself. He does it all. He’s the mentor of the academy. The only part that ‘Pancho’ gives me complete freedom is in the aspect of jiu-jitsu, and before I teach anything or go into something, I’m always consulting with him first because he’s our mentor.

“A big gym can have anywhere between 10–30 coaches, and we only have one. ‘Pancho’ does it all himself. You saw in this last event there were three consecutive fights, and he was there for all of them. If you ask me, without a doubt (he’s Coach of the Year). He’s got a champion in a gym based out of Mexico. Alexa is the first Mexican woman to be champion, Irene fought for a title, and look at what he’s doing with us.”

There are, however, other coaches who can stake a claim for that award – most notably Xtreme Couture’s Eric Nicksick, who’s been responsible for many key wins, including Sean Strickland’s upset of Israel Adesanya to win the UFC middleweight title.

But even if “Pancho” doesn’t get the award, Lopes would like to see him at least be considered and in the running given everything he’s done in 2023.

“I think just even with ‘Pancho’ being recognized, he would make history. I think ‘Pancho’ would be the first coach to be training out of Mexico to be in the running for something like that,” Lopes said. “Only with that, with being mentioned, he would make history – and if he were to win, even better.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.