A featherweight headliner between Diego Lopes vs. Josh Emmett is in the works for the UFC’s return to Mexico…
A featherweight headliner between Diego Lopes vs. Josh Emmett is in the works for the UFC’s return to Mexico City in 2025.
Per a report from Australian reporter Benny P on X, Lopes will look to land his sixth-straight win inside the Octagon when he meets Emmett on March 29.
Lopes last stepped inside the Octagon against former title challenger Brian Ortega at UFC 306 in September. Lopes earned a unanimous decision victory, moving him to 5-1 under the UFC banner — his lone loss coming in his promotional debut against Movsar Evloev in May 2023.
Josh Emmett heads to Mexico city after scoring a brutal KO against Bryce Mitchell last year
Expected to meet Lopes inside Arena CDMX is Josh Emmett who will be making his 15th walk to the Octagon and carrying a solid 10-4 record on MMA’s biggest stage. It’s been more than a year since ‘CC0’ scored a horrifyingly brutal first-round KO against Bryce Mitchell at UFC 296 in December 2023.
Emmett is 2-2 in his last four, dropping back-to-back bouts against Yair Rodriguez and Ilia Topuria before bouncing back with his win over ‘Thug Nasty.’ Before that, Emmett was on a five-fight win streak with wins against the likes of Shane Burgos, Dan Ige, and Calvin Kattar.
The National Palace is about 7.5 miles away from the Arena Ciudad de México, which will host UFC 180: Werdum vs. Hunt this weekend, a card that has already been tornapart by injuries. Things were bad enough when the card lost Cain Velasquez as a headliner — now the UFC will have to pull off a show during a period of civil unrest, where people are literally trying to burn a palace down. International attention is on Mexico City right now for the worst possible reasons. Can an American cage-fighting promotion bring some healing to this terrible moment?
Short answer: No, of course not. At this point, UFC 180 has to be one of the top 5 most cursed events ever, and I honestly feel bad for the UFC, which really doesn’t happen often. Stay safe, everybody.
The National Palace is about 7.5 miles away from the Arena Ciudad de México, which will host UFC 180: Werdum vs. Hunt this weekend, a card that has already been tornapart by injuries. Things were bad enough when the card lost Cain Velasquez as a headliner — now the UFC will have to pull off a show during a period of civil unrest, where people are literally trying to burn a palace down. International attention is on Mexico City right now for the worst possible reasons. Can an American cage-fighting promotion bring some healing to this terrible moment?
Short answer: No, of course not. At this point, UFC 180 has to be one of the top 5 most cursed events ever, and I honestly feel bad for the UFC, which really doesn’t happen often. Stay safe, everybody.
During a press conference today in Mexico City, UFC president Dana White announced that Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum will appear as rival coaches on the first installment of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America (aka EL TUF), which will air this fall in Mexico and the United States. Velasquez and Dos Santos will then meet at the show’s Finale, “the week of November 15th,” according to White.
Though no other fights on the card have been booked, White vowed to bring a stacked lineup to Mexico City. “You know I want to come to Mexico with a bang,” he said. “We’re gonna bring some good fights here, I promise you.”
When a media member asked White if the UFC would postpone the event or set up a new headliner if Velasquez got injured before the fight, White tried to ward off the bad juju: “Bite your tongue. Hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
Lots more details to come. Stay tuned.
Update, via MMAFighting: Velasquez vs. Werdum and the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America will take place at UFC 180, November 15th at Mexico City’s Arena Ciudad. TUF: Latin America will feature bantamweights and featherweights, and will air on Televisa in Mexico beginning the week of August 18th. The show begins filming on May 12th in Las Vegas.
During a press conference today in Mexico City, UFC president Dana White announced that Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum will appear as rival coaches on the first installment of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America (aka EL TUF), which will air this fall in Mexico and the United States. Velasquez and Dos Santos will then meet at the show’s Finale, “the week of November 15th,” according to White.
Though no other fights on the card have been booked, White vowed to bring a stacked lineup to Mexico City. “You know I want to come to Mexico with a bang,” he said. “We’re gonna bring some good fights here, I promise you.”
When a media member asked White if the UFC would postpone the event or set up a new headliner if Velasquez got injured before the fight, White tried to ward off the bad juju: “Bite your tongue. Hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
Lots more details to come. Stay tuned.
Update, via MMAFighting: Velasquez vs. Werdum and the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America will take place at UFC 180, November 15th at Mexico City’s Arena Ciudad. TUF: Latin America will feature bantamweights and featherweights, and will air on Televisa in Mexico beginning the week of August 18th. The show begins filming on May 12th in Las Vegas.
