A featherweight fight between Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez is expected to headline UFC On ESPN 64 in Mexico City, Mexico on March 29th.
The 30-year-old Lopes made an immediate impact when he made his very-short-notice UFC debut against a rising force in the division, Movsar Evloev back in May of 2023, giving the undefeated fighter a torrid time at times in the fight, though he ultimately lost by unanimous decision.
However, Lopes has since gone on to prove that his performance was no fluke by winning his next five fights in a row against an increasingly impressive list of opponents, including victories last year over the likes of Sodiq Yusuff, Dan Ige and most recently Brian Ortega.
That’s taken Lopes as high as No.3 in the featherweight rankings heading into his next fight against the No.5 placed Rodriguez.
The 32-year-old ‘El Pantera’ is looking to bounce back from a couple of losses, having been TKO’d by Alexander Volkanovski in an unsuccessful attempt to win the 145lb title in July of 2023, followed by a submission loss to Brian Ortega in February of last year.
Lopes vs. Rodriguez will front a UFC On ESPN 64 card that also features the likes of Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer and Yasmin Yaureghi vs. Julia Polastri.
