Diego Lopes’ win at Noche UFC was a truly impressive feat.
Despite going into the fight as a slight favorite, it was uncertain how the former one-time UFC title challenger would handle the ferocious in-your-face style that Jean Silva brings to every single fight.
Lopes ended up delivering one of the most dominant rounds of the year in the evening’s main event, mounting Silva and raining down a slew of punches and hellacious elbows before sending ‘Lord’ to his corner a bloody mess. And while Lopes may have faced some adversity in the second stanza, it didn’t stop him from delivering one of the most brutal knockouts of 2025 via a perfectly timed spinning back elbow.
Looking back on the highlight-reel finish, Lopes could only sum up his fighting style one way.
He fights like a Mexican.
“My fight style? This is from my coach — you want to train me, you need to fight like a Mexican,” Lopes said during his post-fight interview in San Antonio. “I think this night, the people watched this — fight like a Mexican. I’m so happy for the kids from Mexico tonight. Five and 0 — this is big for Mexico.”
Is it time for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2?
After coming up short against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski in April, Lopes is back in the win column and, more importantly, one giant step closer toward another crack at the division’s top prize.
Whether or not he’s the next man up for Volk remains to be seen, but chances are, he’ll have to sit back and wait to see how things play out between ‘The Great’ and current top-ranked featherweight contender Movsar Evloev.
