Diego Lopes Has Only 1 Regret From the Loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314 Fight

Alexander Volkanovski proved all the haters wrong yet again. How? He became the UFC champion once again, and this time he broke a record as well! The featherweight legend made history with a grueling effort over Diego Lopes to recapture the 145 lbs and picked up a thrilling unanimous decision win in the main event of UFC 314. The 36-year-old broke the record and became the first fighter under 155 lbs to win a UFC championship over the age of 35. The final scores came in 48-47, 49-46, and 49-46, and he is now a 2-time UFC title holder.

“Man, a lot of people counted me out. Right? Coming off two knockout losses. The 35-year-old curse, 36 years old, big break — and come back and beat a gun like Diego Lopes, who comes and brings it? Mate, it’s good to be back,” a relieved Volkanovski said post-fight. ‘Volk’ started strong, setting a blazing pace in the opening round and repeatedly giving strong jabs to Lopes. He also successfully scored a takedown in the early rounds. But Lopes had an urgency and aggression as the rounds went on. He dropped Volkanovski with a perfect right hand in the second quarter and opened up a huge gash under Volkanovski’s right eye with his punches. Volkanovski ultimately dominated Lopes with a huge margin of 165-71 in total strikes and 158-63 in significant strikes.

Recently, Lopes doubled down on how powerful ‘Volk’ is and spoke about the same to JAXXON podcast’s Bear Degidio. He also pointed out the only regret he had with his foght against the Aussie. He said, “I mean like he fights, you know, but this time I had too much adrenaline, I did not feel the power in my face. Yeah, this guy is tough.” When Degidio asked, “There were a few times, no? where you could kill him? Did you stop because you were tired?” Lopes said, “No. This guy is so smart sometimes I am pressured, I am putting the angle this guy catches me for one jab, I will let in the jab, he is like a takedown. I defend the takedown of the guy’s defense for the combo.”

Lopes had shared his thoughts after the defeat as well while talking with the help of a translator. He said, “It was an honor to share the Octagon with a guy like Alexander Volkanovski, but I’ll be back.” After that, he revealed his thoughts on his shortcomings in social media, saying,  “I fell short last night, I failed in a few things. I’ll get back to work, improve, correct the mistakes, and move forward. Thank you all for your support. As I always say, “NOTHING HAPPENS.”

Even though Lopes only had good things to say about the Aussie and regretted his form during the fight, John McCarthy pinpointed some signs of Volkanovski losing his ‘edge’.

Big John McCarthy gave a concerning verdict on Alexander Volkanovski

Volkanovski is already 36 and yet he proved that he still has a full gas tank after winning a championship belt for the second time. He shattered two longstanding tales, — the “Drake curse” and the “35 and over curse“-— and became a legendary figure in UFC. However, former UFC referee Big John McCarthy had said, “Father Time is undefeated.”

While speaking on his Weighing In podcast, he shared his take on Volkanovski’s drawback despite his recent win. He clarified, “You could sit there and say, ‘Well, Father Time kind of helped Alexander Volkanovski in his last fight.’ You know, he did good, but you could see even in Volkanovski’s win against Diego Lopez, there were signs of him changing as a fighter. He’s not the same guy he was when he beat Max Holloway the first time….He’s not that guy anymore. He has to fight differently.”

Lopes was not on the same level of fight IQ as the Aussie, and the latter adopted proper rhythm and strategy while the Brazilian remained predictable. On the other hand, Volkanovski has no plans to stop anytime soon and is open to any opponent that the UFC decides for him. In his post-fight press conference, the Aussie was candid, saying, “Yair looked great. I hear that he was saying he wanted a title shot. He’s a good dude. I like him a lot. If the UFC wants to give it to him, I’m not gonna stop that. I’ll be honest, before that fight, I didn’t think he would get a shot. But now that he’s calling for it, I’m not the one to say no. I’ll leave everything to the UFC. You’ve got guys like Movsar, who’s undefeated. I’d love to take that zero.”

How do you think Volkanovski will perform in the future? Will ‘Father Time’ take its toll on him, or will he change strategies in his favor? Tell us in the comments below.

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