"He a beast" - Fans react to Diego Lopes throwing first pitch for Miami Marlins ahead of Alexander Volkanovski fight at UFC 314

Diego Lopes is fast approaching, what many believe, is the most high-profile fight of his MMA career thus far, as he takes on UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. He has now made waves by throwing a pitch for the Miami Marlins baseball team. Fight fans soon chimed in, with many showering praise on him.

Brazil's Lopes has lately solidified himself as a divisional elite at 145 pounds. Ahead of his maiden UFC title shot, the MMA fighter was accorded the honor of throwing the first pitch at a Miami Marlins game. The UFC's and the Miami Marlins' official X handles posted about the same.

Watch Lopes throw the pitch in the video in the X post below:

Fight fans weighed in on it, with some lauding Diego Lopes for his throwing form while others suggested that his form wasn't up to the mark. One X user wrote:

"The throwing form."

Another X user seemingly criticized his throwing form:

"He threw that sh** like a dart bruh."

One observer deemed the UFC featherweight contender to be a multi-sport athlete:

"Multi sport athlete."

One commenter appeared to lightheartedly allude to Lopes' signature hairstyle and questioned why he'd covered up his hair with a cap. On the other hand, some netizens labeled the MMA fighter as a legend, with one individual tweeting:

"He's a legend!"

Another netizen praisingly wrote:

"He a beast."

Check out the screenshots of a few reactions below:

Screenshots of tweets

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Diego Lopes hit back at critics ahead of his UFC 314 title showdown against Alexander Volkanovski

Rising star Diego Lopes is scheduled to face former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski next. The two will headline UFC 314 in Miami, Florida, on April 12, 2025.

With Ilia Topuria announcing that he would vacate his UFC featherweight title, the Volkanovski-Lopes fight will be for the vacant title.

During an interview with Hablemos MMA in February 2025, Diego Lopes addressed the criticism directed against him by those who claimed he lacks the cardio to compete in a high-level title fight.

Lopes seemingly alluded to his June 2024 fight against late-replacement opponent Dan Ige, wherein he supposedly slowed down but still outpointed his opponent. The Brazilian indicated that he later proved his cardio by dominantly outpointing Brian Ortega in his very next octagon appearance in September 2024.

Furthermore, implying that some people have short memories and were likely downplaying his abilities because they were fans of his opponents, Lopes affirmed that he's confident about beating the legendary Volkanovski at UFC 314:

"I don’t get it. People forget things. People have short memories. They only want to remember what they want to remember, and that’s fine. I get it. A lot of those people are fans of those fighters. I’m fighting, so they will go ahead and say I lack cardio to fight them."

Watch Lopes discuss the topic below (20:08):