Ahead of UFC 314, Diego Lopes may be closing as much as a fan-favorite as his incoming foe, Alexander Volkanovski, courtesy of the emotional moment he had with his family.
Lopes (26-6-0) headlines this weekend’s return to the Sunshine State. Vying for the vacant featherweight crown, the Brazilian-born star looks to scoop Octagon spoils at the first time of asking.
Lopes most recently took out common-foe, Brian Ortega, in an impressive decision win at UFC Noche last year. During his six-fight run with the promotion, he has come unstuck just once, suffering defeat against Movsar Evloev on short notice.
Despite this, the Brazilian was the second favorite in this battle. Volkanovski, despite having lost three of his last four fights, remained the crowd’s darling as they cheered him wherever he went in Florida this week. That is the goodwill (26-4-0) he has earned as their featherweight champion over the years.
However, after the UFC shared an emotionally charged video on social media this week, it seems to have swung the tide. Lamenting the fact he will be unable to embrace his parents if he wins the belt at UFC 314 as they remain in Brazil, Lopes became outwardly upset.
This led to some wishful thinking from fans on Reddit, with many praying to the gods that they could somehow share the spoils of this battle with both fighters.
Family over everything @DiegoLopesMMA’s family wanted to make sure he felt supported from afar ahead of #UFC314 pic.twitter.com/Ap0Wj5amuY
— UFC (@ufc) April 11, 2025
“Split the belt in half and they can both share it,” a user commented. Meanwhile, top featherweight Movsar Evloev also caught some strays.
“And no Movsar (Evloev), you can’t have either one”, joked a fan.
Yet another Reddit user wiped his tears as said, “Damn bro. Tears? In my meme app? Now I don’t want either to lose.”
“I really really want Volk to be champ once again. To just prove that he still has that DOG in him. But man, seeing Lopes as champ would be fun, super exciting fighter who has a lot to offer”, explained another.
Unfortunately, only one can win, and former featherweight champion Max Holloway believes he knows who it is.
‘Blessed’ backs former foe for title win
Having shared the Octagon thrice with Volkanovski, BMF kingpin Max Holloway knows that the Aussie has the technical versatility to defeat Lopes.
So, the Hawaiian is expecting one-way traffic. But while he expects the Oceanic star to prevail, he also urges that some caution would be wise when pitted with the heavy-handed Lopes.
“There’s only two ways I see this fight going,” Holloway said on his YouTube channel.
“If Alex (Volkanvoski) is to be the winner, I think he goes to vintage Alex, stick-and-move, pop-shot, and play his leg kicks. Maybe grapple, some dirty boxing against the fence, he ekes out a decision maybe a unanimous decision. If Diego wins, it’s within the first three rounds,” Holloway said of Lopes’ chances.
“I think Diego catches him”, he noted, explaining that it would be Lopes’ only chance of defeating Volkanovski.
