At UFC 325 in January, Lopes (27-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC) had a rematch with all-time featherweight great Alexander Volkanovski in Australia. Lopes lost a unanimous decision to Volkanovski in April 2025. Ten months didn’t make much difference in the outcome, and Lopes lost again by unanimous decision.
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“I’m fine. I’m at peace with myself,” Lopes told Hablemos MMA en Español. “We had to lose once again in another title, but what can you do? You have to get on with life. It’s not the end of the world.”
The Brazilian, who resides in Mexico, was heavily criticized within the MMA community for his strategy in the rematch, having lost less than a year earlier. However, Lopes feels he changed things significantly and is confident he did his best.
“I did a little bit of everything,” Lopes said. “People talked after the last fight, saying I didn’t go for takedowns. This time I took him down, but I didn’t do anything big with it. His defense was really good. He got up quickly and defended the back and submission well. ‘Oh, you didn’t kick.’ I kicked a ton, so much so that I destroyed my feet. Unfortunately there’s not much to say. I did more than the first fight. He was just better than me that night.”
Lopes doesn’t understand why people criticize his performance. He thinks people forget that he’s not only fighting a UFC champion, but also arguably the best featherweight in MMA history.
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“People forget, but I’m not fighting a sack of potatoes,” Lopes said. “I’m not going to fight someone who is going to let me do whatever I want. I don’t take criticism from people. It’s easy to talk when you’re out there, but being there and fighting is a different thing. I thought I could beat him too, but it ended up not being as easy as I expected. People are always going to criticize one way or another.”
Although some people may not be, the 31-year-old is proud of his performance and the work of his team in the lead-up to the event.
“We really made the adjustments we needed,” Lopes said. “We did a really good job. If you really focus on the fight and look at the statistics, in terms of punches thrown, we landed the same amount. I think I even threw two more than him. It was 169 to 168. Round after round, the difference between us was one or two punches, maximum five punches. In Round 5, we did the most fighting and he took the advantage there. But the reality is that we did everything in our power. We just need to OK and admit that Volkanovski is a smart son of a bitch when it comes to fighting.
“What am I going to do or what do I have to complain about? He beat me twice. There’s not much to say. I just have to give him credit. I felt like we had a more competitive fight than the first one, although some people don’t see it that way. I felt like I was more competitive. I was able to take him down. I closed a submission. I defended takedowns, submissions. I cut the angle when he moved to the left. I kicked him. I did everything and it wasn’t enough. I just have to give him credit.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Diego Lopes at peace with UFC 325 loss: ‘He did everything in my power’