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Lopes is still angling for a fight against Rodriguez at Noche UFC. Both fighters are saying they’re ready to throw down, but will the bout come together?
Diego Lopes is laying all his cards on the table regarding a potential title eliminator fight against heated rival Yair Rodriguez.
Lopes and Rodriguez have been going back and forth on social media, accusing one another of turning down a fight.
“I saw somewhere that p—sy Diego Lopes is saying I don’t want to fight him, and that’s absolutely not the case,” Rodriguez wrote before adding, “I was a little disappointed with the UFC because they recently offered me that fight … a fight with him in the company doesn’t do anything for me. They’re not going to pay me more, and it doesn’t put me in a better position either because he’s coming off a loss.”
Nevertheless, “El Pantera” said he was still down to accept. Now Lopes is back with his own statement on the situation, saying the fight won’t fall apart on his account.
“Let’s get to the facts,” Lopes wrote. “After the fight vs Volk, UFC contacted me asking how I was doing. I told them all the recommendations the doctors gave me. That I would be ready to fight in September.”
“They offered Aaron Pico, I said yes,” he continued. “2 days later they offered me Jean Silva, I said yes. When UFC changed [UFC Guadalajara] to San Antonio, Yair Rodriguez. I said yes. I also suggested offering the fight vs Movsar [Evloev] or Lerone [Murphy].”
“If you have any doubts, ask Dana [White], Hunter [Campbell] or Sean [Shelby] if I’ve ever turned down a fight.
“The day I refuse or don’t accept a fight, it must be because of a very serious health problem or that I’m really unable to fight. My career was built on accepting fights, not for nothing I have 33 professional fights.”
That’s a pretty full-throated declaration that he’d fight Yair Rodriguez. Yair’s statement? A lot of ‘I’ll kick his a—’ alongside a lot of ‘but his ranking’ and ‘he’s coming off a loss.’ Then again, Yair is the guy currently waiting to see if he’s still next in line to fight Alexander Volkanovski. It’s not all that surprising he’d hold out for that rather than fighting down against Lopes.
Here’s hoping the UFC manages to fit the pieces together properly and gets Rodriguez vs. Lopes at the top of Noche UFC 3 in September. That’s the fight to make!
