The Brazilian, who lives in Mexico, will fight his second match with Alexander Volkanovski in the main bout of the event, which will be held in Sydney, Australia.
Brazil will have a very busy start to 2026 in terms of important UFC fights. With Amanda Nunes confirming her return at UFC 325, it will be Diego Lopez’s turn to give the country the chance to have another champion in the world’s most famous octagon;
On 1/2, the Brazilian residing in Mexico will fight a rematch with Alexander Volkanovski in the main bout of the event that will be held in Sydney, Australia. This will be the second numbered event next year, just one week after UFC 324 in Las Vegas, and thus the second Ultimate card in the “Paramount era.”
The fight was confirmed by Dana White in a video posted on UFC social media. It will mark a reunion of the two fighters who fought for the vacant featherweight belt in April, at UFC 314, which the Australian won via judges’ decision giving her the belt that previously belonged to Ilya Topuria, who moved up the division to fight for the lightweight belt.
After his defeat to Volkanovski, Diego Lopez had the opportunity to prove himself in Noche UFC, where he achieved victory by defeating Jean Silva in the main fight of the event, which was held in San Antonio (USA). With this result, he was once again considered a contender for the title in the under 66kg category.
For Volkanovski, this will be his first defense of his second reign at featherweight. In his first stint as champion, between 2019 and 2024, the Australian made a series of defenses against well-known athletes in the division, such as Max Holloway and Brian Ortega, among others. In the midst of this, he tried to win the lightweight title twice, losing both times to Islam Makhachev.
The choice of Diego Lopez, who ranked second in the category classification, to be the contender for the belt, came as a surprise to some fans. This is because Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy, who are in good form in Ultimate, and for this reason, were speculated to be potential rivals for the Australian, but were overtaken by the Brazilian.