"Guess that confirms Volk vs. Ilia 2 then" - Fans react as Diego Lopes reportedly has fight booked for March 2025 against former interim champ

UFC featherweight fan favorite Diego Lopes has been reportedly booked to fight former divisional interim champion Yair Rodriguez in March of this year. This potential match-up, which puts no.3 Lopes against no.5 Rodriguez, has been reportedly slated to headline UFC Mexico.

Lopes himself announced on his Instagram page that he's started his first fight camp of the year - although not stating who his opponent will be. While no official word from the UFC has been released regarding this booking, it makes sense from a ranking stand-point. No.4-ranked Movsar Evloev just fought last month while no.2-ranked Max Holloway just got knocked out in October.

UFC Mexico is happening in March and with both men having strong ties to the South American nation, this bout would attract a lot of eyes.

Spinnin Backfist reported on the fight booking on X:

Fans reacted to this potential fight in various ways, with @ElonovMMA saying:

"Guess that confirms Volk vs Ilia 2 then. Don’t wanna have to see him get KO’d again 😭"

Meanwhile, @Pattytesla said:

"Diego will catch a kick and put Yair on the mat and Yair will have nothing for him."

Here are more comments:

Comments part 1. [Image credit: @SpinninBackfist on X]

Comments part 2. [Image credit: @SpinninBackfist on X]

---

Diego Lopes named 2024 Breakout Fighter of the Year by ESPN MMA

Diego Lopes has had a remarkable sophomore year in the UFC in 2024. Debuting in the promotion in 2023, the Brazilian fighter suffered a close decision loss to undefeated Russian Movsar Evloev. He bounced back with two straight wins after, closing out the year strong.

Come 2024, Lopes rode his strong momentum and bulldozed his way to a TKO win over Sodiq Yusuff. He then followed it up with back-to-back dominant decision wins over Dan Ige and former UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega.

With a surging three-fight winning streak over top contenders in the division, Diego Lopes was named 2024 Breakout Fighter of the Year by ESPN MMA:

Starting his year roughly around the same time he did last year, Lopes will use this strong momentum again to plow through all comers. If he performs anywhere near the level of success he's had last year, one might see Diego Lopes fighting for gold by the end of 2025.