Diego
Lopes (26-7) claims Yair
Rodriguez (20-5) turned down a matchup against him at Noche
UFC.
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Noche
UFC will go down on Sept.13 at the Frost Bank Arena in San
Antonio, Texas, after a change of location from Guadalajara,
Mexico. Lopes claims
UFC executive Hunter Campbell offered Rodriguez a matchup
against him on the card. However, “El Pantera” seemingly isn’t
willing to fight Lopes. Lopes also taunted Rodriguez with a picture
of their infamous UFC
314 press conference altercation.
“Hey, Yair Rodríguez, I just realized that you received a call from
Hunter and refused to fight me at Noche UFC,” Lopes wrote on X. “Where is the man who was in front of me
at the press conference?”
🚨 Diego Lopes says Yair Rodriguez turned
down a fight against him for
#NocheUFC in September 👀🍿“Hey, Yair Rodriguez, I just found out you got a call from Hunter
denying the fight with me at Noche UFC. Where’s the guy who was in
front of me at the press conference?”(via… pic.twitter.com/08ER2s33kq
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
June 9, 2025
Lopes came up short in a clash for the vacant featherweight title
against Alexander
Volkanovski at UFC 314 this past April. Meanwhile, Rodriguez
foiled the UFC debut of former Bellator champ Patricio “Freire on
the same card.
Lopes and Rodriguez almost came to blows in a surprising
altercation at the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference. Rodriguez
later explained that the issue involved his friend, former UFC
fighter Marco
Beltran, and it was the latter’s story to tell.
While Movsar
Evloev is widely regarded as the most deserving contender, the
undefeated Russian recently announced that he is fighting in July,
but it won’t be for the 145-pound title. Meanwhile, Volkanovski
said that Rodriguez’s name has popped up in conversations for his
next defense.
After dropping his short-notice UFC debut against Evloev in 2023,
Lopes went on a five-fight tear before losing to “The Great.”
Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s win over Freire saw him rebound from a
two-bout losing streak.