Newly-crowned featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will make his first 145-pound title defense against former division kingpin Max Holloway atop the upcoming UFC 308 pay-per-view (PPV) event, recently made official for Sat., Oct. 26, 2024 at Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
But if something should happen to either Holloway or Topuria before the cage door closes on fight night (don’t rule it out), UFC CEO Dana White has no problem giving red-hot featherweight contender Diego Lopes the green light to step in and compete for the 145-pound title.
“We’d do anything for that guy, even though he was screaming at me,” White said at the UFC 306 post-fight press conference (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “I really like him, so yeah, he could be (UFC 308 backup). Usually he’s really nice, but tonight he was screaming at me: ‘Give me my title shot. I get the title shot now.’ He was very angry tonight. He wasn’t the usual happy-go-lucky Diego Lopes. He was f*cking screaming at me. He was all fired up tonight.”
The 29 year-old Lopes (26-6) won his fifth straight by busting up former title challenger Brian Ortega as part of the UFC 306 PPV event last weekend at The Sphere in Las Vegas. The Brazilian expects a “very close fight” between Topuria and Holloway but is leaning toward the experience of “Blessed.”
“It’s a very close fight,” Lopes told MMA Fighting. “I lean towards Holloway a bit because of his experience. He’s been fighting many different type of opponents in the division. He fought [Alex] Volkanovski, Jose Aldo and Jeremy Stephens, short guys that have a lot of knockout power, and no one could [knock him out]. We’ll see what happens, but I think I side with Max Holloway a bit.”
For the current UFC 308 fight card and PPV lineup click here.