On Saturday, Diego Lopes rumbled with Alexander Volkanovski pound-for-pound at UFC 314 for the featherweight title. Ilia Topuria vacated the championship to move up to the lightweight division.
The main event bout earned “Fight of the Night” honors; Lopes came up short on the judges’ scorecards.
Lopes entered the fight ranked No. 3, riding a five-fight streak. He managed to hand with Volkanovski for most of the fight, but Volkanovski ended earning the victory by unanimous decision.
On Sunday, Lopes released a statement via his social media and vowed to ‘correct mistakes and improve’.
“Always with my head held high, a smile on my face. I fell short last night, I failed in a few things,” Lopes wrote on Instagram.
“I’ll get back to work, improve, correct my mistakes, and move forward. Thank you all for your support. As I always say, ‘NOTHING HAPPENS,’” he continued.
With the win, Volkanovski is now a two-time featherweight champion his hall-of-fame resume.
With the defeat, Lopes didn’t lose any stock in the loss to Volkanovski.
Even with the loss, Lopes will remain ranked in the top 5 and most likely will not drop lower, if at all.
