The announcement of the fight between Diego Lopez and Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopez, scheduled for February 1, shook the mixed martial arts world.
Photo: Disclosure/UFC Official Instagram/Esporte News Mundo
The announcement of the fight between Diego Lopez and Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopez, scheduled for February 1, shook the mixed martial arts world. A lot of this has to do with the fact that for some fight fans and even other fighters, the Brazilian may not have been the expected choice to fight for the featherweight belt in the UFC.
The duel, which will be the main fight at UFC 325, attracted attention because it was believed that the next contender for the under-66 kg title would be the Russian Movsar Ivlov or the Englishman Leron Murphy. These two players are going through great stages within the organization and should be considered for the position in place of Diego, who is coming off a win over Jean Silva.
Some of Diego Lopez’s competitors took to social media to criticize Ultimate’s decision to select him to face champion Volkanovski due to his decision to fight for the title. Which the Mexico-based fighter decided to make fun of in a post on social media.
The Brazilian responded to his rivals’ criticism, saying that they were “crying” because they did not have the opportunity to compete for the title. He had a “message” to his colleagues at Ultimate: to stop “complaining” about the organization’s choices: “work and stop complaining” on social media.
-This is my face seeing everyone crying (with laughing emojis). If you just sit back, the UFC will never give you a title shot. Work and stop crying on social media – said Diego.
The selection of Diego Lopez was initially criticized by Leron Murphy. who spoke out on the networks saying that decisions regarding UFC title fights were dictated by “who is more popular” and not by athletic merit. Which also caught the attention of Aljamain Sterling.
The former bantamweight champion defended Murphy, saying that the Englishman or Evloev “deserves” the position of challenger for the belt instead of the Brazilian, and stated that such decisions also leave questions about whether the popularity of some fighters would influence the organization in such choices.