Diego
Lopes is always ready to save the day for the
UFC.

Lopes is scheduled to open the iconic
UFC White House card in a featherweight clash against Steve
Garcia on Sunday. Lopes successfully made the non-title limit
of 146 pounds for his matchup against Garcia. 

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However, Lopes reappeared at the weigh-ins to step on the scale for
another weight class. Lopes later successfully weighed in at 154
pounds as the backup fighter for the lightweight title fight
between Ilia
Topuria and Justin
Gaethje. The Brazilian reveals that he contacted Hunter
Campbell when he heard that the originally planned backup fighter,
Arman
Tsarukyan, wouldn’t be weighing in. Campbell gave the green
light to Lopes, who stands a chance at a lightweight title shot if
any of the main event fighters are forced out for some
reason. 

An Opportunistic Weigh-in

“When I saw Arman pull out as the backup for the fight, I texted
Hunter and said, ‘If you need me, I can serve as the backup,” Lopes
told UFC on TNT Sports. “I got one hour to increase my
weight.’  He said, ‘You sure? Yeah. If you want to do this, go
ahead.’”

This is not the first time that Lopes (27-8) has stepped in to save
the day for the UFC. Lopes made his UFC debut in 2023 on a few
days’ notice against Movsar
Evloev, suffering a hard-fought decision loss. Lopes also made
a two-month turnaround on two weeks’ notice for UFC 303, where he
accepted a change of opponent on hours’ notice. 

Meanwhile, Tsarukyan continues to be sidelined from the UFC
lightweight title picture despite being widely considered the top
contender. “Ahalkalakets” chose a wrestling match against Tony
Ferguson at RAF 10 over weighing-in as the backup fighter for
the UFC White House headliner. 

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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