Diego Lopes reflects on brutal early struggles with Alessandro Costa: “We had nothing to eat”

When Diego Lopes enters the octagon on April 12 to compete for the undisputed UFC featherweight title, it will represent the pinnacle of an otherwise turbulent and challenging journey that many would consider unachievable.

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Lopes shared glimpses of the struggles he endured during the initial years of his combat sports career. After meeting Alessandro Costa while working at a gym in Playa Del Carmen, the two became best friends, supporting each other through tough times.

As they both tried to establish themselves far from home in Mexico, Lopes and Costa endured long periods of financial struggles and hardship. Reflecting on that time, Lopes said:

"My goal was pretty clear. I didn’t want to go back to Manaus, I didn’t want to go back to Sao Paulo, I didn’t want to go back to Brazil. I knew that there were many opportunities for me here. When there was nothing for us to eat, we would buy cheap bread and save it for the week. We worked as night club bouncers, we worked as waiters, we worked as gardeners. We went everywhere no matter how much we’d be paid. We had nothing to eat and no money to buy anything." [Translated from Portuguese]

Check out Diego Lopes' comments below (0:01):

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Diego Lopes and Alessandro Costa motivated each other to push forward in their careers

Diego Lopes and Alessandro Costa both hail from Manaus, Brazil and their friendship helped them navigate through tough times, motivating each other to keep pushing forward.

In the aforementioned interview with MMA Fighting, Lopes said:

“At that point, it doesn’t matter how much you’re getting paid, what matters is having enough to eat and feel strong to train. Of course, sometimes we were like, ‘F*ck, what are we going to do? What are we going to eat tomorrow? What are we going to eat today? What are we going to do? Where can we get a job? But Alessandro was the key because whenever one of us was feeling down, the other one would motivate you. We never let each other feel down. It was great to have him as a partner in difficult times.” [Translated from Portuguese] [0:48]

Putting food on the table was the goal that the duo pursued at the time. Despite the struggles, they both managed to build themselves into world-class fighters.

A testament to the progress is the fact that Lopes will be facing one of the greatest featherweight fighters, Alexander Volknaovski, at UFC 314 in pursuit of reaching the absolute top of the sport.