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Check out the best photos from Diego Lopes’ first-round knockout win over Pat Sabatini at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]’ first-round knockout win over [autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag] at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos by Wendell Cruz, USA TODAY Sports; Sarah Stier, Getty Images; MMA Junkie)
Alessandro Costa is proud to share UFC 295 card with Lobo Gym teammates.
[autotag]Alessandro Costa[/autotag] will be sharing the historic card of UFC 295 alongside teammates [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] and [autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag].
This Saturday, Costa (13-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) returns to the octagon on the preliminary card of UFC 295, which celebrates the promotion’s 30th anniversary, to take on Stephen Erceg (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a flyweight bout. He’ll be the third Lobo Gym fighter competing at the event, something that fills Costa with joy.
“On top of this being a special event, I’ll also be fighting with my teammates Diego Lopes and Loopy Godinez,” Costa told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “For us, this is huge. This is super special to be fighting on a card like this and also to be able to have three athletes of the same team fighting on the same card and one of us is on the main card.”
Not long ago, Lobo Gym wasn’t on the minds of many MMA fans. However, today it’s a much more different story as the Guadalajara team has a UFC champion in Alexa Grasso, a former UFC title challenger in Irene Aldana, and promising fighters such as Costa, Lopez and Godinez.
The team’s success is fueling Costa ahead of UFC 295.
“For us, it’s more motivation,” Costa explained. “The team is going and on its way up, and our coach is very happy with the work that he’s doing with us. I think this is the fruit of the labor that we’ve put in for so many years training and dedicating ourselves 100 percent to training. This is huge to be fighting in a card like this.”
Costa has been training with Lopes for years. They two have been cornering each other through their rise in MMA, which is why Costa had to double-check with the team before accepting his fight at UFC 295.
“Yeah, of course (I had to consult with the team),” Costa said. “When Jason (House, my manager) called me to ask me about this fight, the first thing I did was consult with Diego to see what he thought. Diego is the one that’s managed my career from the start, so I spoke to him. We had also been training for his camp, so he told me, ‘You’ve been training, you’re ready, and this is a good fight, so you can enter the rankings.'”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Diego Lopes confident big things are in the horizon if he beats Pat Sabatini at UFC 295.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] knows all eyes are going to be on him on Saturday night, and he plans to make the most of it.
The UFC rookie competes in his third fight in the octagon against Pat Sabatini. The two standout grapplers are scheduled to meet in a featherweight bout to open the UFC 295 pay-per-view main card in Madison Square Garden.
Lopes (22-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is aware he’s in a highly coveted spot on the card and plans to make a statement against Sabatini (18-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC), so he can show he’s ready for bigger opportunities.
“I think this is a great opportunity and just being on the main card it’s something that’s very meaningful,” Lopes said through an interpreter at the UFC 295 media day on Wednesday. “I also want to show that my first fight just wasn’t a matter of luck being there. I’m made for big things, and I’ll have to show that on Saturday.”
Lopes debuted in May on the main card of UFC 288 against top contender Movsar Evloev. He lost the fight by unanimous decision and gave Evloev a tough run despite taking the fight the week of the event.
Since then, Lopes picked up a quick submission over Gavin Tucker in August and has gathered a lot of attention from the fan base on social media. Despite wanting more, the Brazilian fighter is grateful for what he’s experienced so far.
“It’s been incredible everything that I have gone through in my career,” Lopes said. “I enjoy very much everything I’ve been through before getting to the UFC. I was knocking on the door for a long time, and for whatever reason things didn’t work out. I have many fans in Mexico and now that the world knows me the doors are open for it all. Getting the love and support from the fans is something good and something I appreciate.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Before UFC 295 on Saturday, hear from the main card fighters at media day in New York.
NEW YORK – The UFC 295, which takes place at Madison Square Garden with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+, goes down Saturday.
Before fight night arrives, though, notable athletes from the main card and preliminary spoke to reporters Wednesday at media day.
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If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for the archived videos of each media day.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Diego Lopes isn’t trying to get ahead of himself, but he hopes to cross paths with Bryce Mitchell after UFC 295.
[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] is not trying to get ahead of himself, but he does want to throw certain things out in the universe.
The UFC featherweight returns to the cage Nov. 11 at UFC 295, and he has a tough test in Pat Sabatini. Yet, despite having a date and opponent on the horizon, Lopes (22-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is not afraid to mention other names he’d like to face as he makes his way to the UFC featherweight title. He’s by no means underestimating Sabatini (18-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC), but he wants to let the world know he’s interested in fighting [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] down the line.
“I have a few names in the rankings that I want to fight,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “One of them, and I’ll mention him because I love that matchup, and that’s what I want, the toughest fights: A fight against Bryce Mitchell for me would be very good, and it would motivate me a lot. He’s a fighter that has good wrestling and jiu-jitsu. I want those type of fights. I want fights that bring out the best in me.”
Lopes is coming off a first-round submission win over Gavin Tucker in August. It was his first win in the octagon, as he had lost a decision to Movsar Evloev in his UFC debut – a fight he accepted the week of the event.
The Lobo Gym fighter hopes to get in the rankings with a win at UFC 295 and begin to target the ranked names like Mitchell.
“I plan to win my fight on Nov. 11 and hopefully get in the rankings,” Lopes explained. “I already checked the guys who are in the top 15, and a lot of these fighters are coming off losses. I’m not wishing bad on them, but maybe I can take someone’s spot in the rankings. Then, next year, do at least three fights minimum and against good, quality contenders and then towards the end of 2024 or early 2025 be considered as a title contender. That’s my plan.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
Loopy Godinez’s coach likes what he sees from her in the gym and has high hopes she’s a future UFC strawweight champ.
[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag] is on her way to UFC gold, at least that’s what [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] confidently believes in.
Godinez recently entered the promotion’s official strawweight rankings with her dominant win over Elise Reed this past September at Noche UFC. Lopes, who’s one of Godinez’s main coaches at Lobo Gym and also a fellow UFC fighter, believes that was just part of the path to eventually take the Mexican fighter to the title.
Lopes sees a ton of potential in Godinez, and he won’t shy away from voicing it.
“When our coach saw her, and Pancho has a lot of vision, when she stopped by a week, then 10 days, then another week, and she was going back and forth between Canada and Mexico, Pancho said, ‘She has what it takes to be a champion,'” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “Wherever she decided she wanted to train, we were always going to be there to help get there. So anyway, the first fight she worked with us was for one of her UFC Apex fights, and Pancho was training with her, and he was in her corner, and she won.
“Now, she did her full camp with us and officially joined the team. She’s part of us, and I was able to work with her for her Noche UFC fight. Loopy has evolved a ton, and she’s had the trust in us. Her hands have improved, and don’t even get me started on her jiu-jitsu and wrestling. She’s improving. … Loopy has what it takes to be a champion, and we’re going to get there step by step.”
Godinez was training in Canada and over the summer switched full time to Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, Mexico to train alongside UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and top women’s bantamweight contender Irene Aldana.
The 30-year-old Godinez is 5-1 in her past six UFC performances, with her only loss a short-notice fight against former Invicta FC champion Angela Hill.
Lopes, a UFC featherweight, is confident in Godinez’s skills and future evolution, but he highlights her athleticism and strength as a big differentiator in the division.
“Loopy is like up to my chest in terms of her height, and she picks me up like if I were 10 pounds,” Lopes said. “She’s so strong, and mixing that strength with her technique and intelligence, I think we can make her a champion.”
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Diego Lopes doesn’t think Alexander Volkanovski should regret taking Islam Makhachev on short notice at UFC 294.
After seeing [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] lose to [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] by knockout, many have questioned Volkanovski’s decision to take the rematch on short notice.
Volkanovski accepted to fill in for an injured Charles Oliveira and take on Makhachev in a rematch on less than two weeks’ notice in the main event of UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi this past Saturday. Yet, despite the criticism by many, fellow UFC featherweight [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] thinks Volkanovski made the correct call.
“I don’t think it was a mistake since the first time was very close,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “The first fight was very close and a lot of people saw Volkanovski winning and other people saw Makhachev winning. The confidence that Volkanovski had taking this fight was very high. I think I would’ve done the same.
“If I had a close fight against someone a weight class above me and for the title, I would’ve taken the fight, too. Now, after seeing the fight and getting a result, everyone is going to say it was a mistake. Only us fighters know the feeling of seeing an opportunity. If I had a close fight with someone and I thought I beat them and I have the opportunity to prove I’m better, I’m taking the fight. I know circumstances are different, but when I took the fight against Evloev, it was the same thing.”
Lopes does think Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) ended up biting a bit more than he could chew in taking the rematch against Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) on short notice. However, he does stand by it not being a mistake, as the reward was too big to pass up. Either way, Lopes has tremendous respect for Volakanovski for daring to be great.
“I think there’s always receipts,” Lopes said. “I could be wrong here, but people always say that age is just a number, and I somewhat agree with that, but you have to keep in mind that Volka has been doing this sport for a long time and when you get to a certain age you start declining a bit.
“All respect to him for taking the fight on 10 days’ notice. He wasn’t prepared for this fight. But yeah, it was surprising to see how Makhachev finished him. I think we all expected Makhachev to wrestle him all the fight.”
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All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements 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 or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Sept. 11-17.
The UFC 295 lineup for Madison Square Garden continues to fill out.
Rising fan-favorite featherweight [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] has his third UFC assignment.
Lopes (22-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will battle [autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Nov. 11 at UFC 295, the promotion’s return to Madison Square Garden in New York. Both fighters recently confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report by ESPN Deportes.
Lopes, 28, burst into the international spotlight when he took a short notice bout vs. ranked Movsar Evloev at UFC 288 in May. Not only did Lopes go all three rounds with one of the promotion’s top featherweights, he put Evolev in several dangerous positions in the grappling department. Lopes lost the bout by unanimous decision, but stormed back in his second UFC outing when he quickly clubbed and subbed Gavin Tucker in 98 seconds.
Sabatini, 32, has quietly dominated his UFC tenure outside of a quick TKO loss to Damon Jackson in September 2022. His wins in the promotion include Tristan Connelly, Jamall Emmers, Tucker Lutz, T.J. Laramie and, in his most recent outing, Lucas Almeida.
With the addition, the UFC 295 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from August 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from August 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for August.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
