Diego Lopes Expects Irene Aldana Will ‘Shock the World’ Against Amanda Nunes

Just a few years ago, it would have been practically unimaginable that Mexico could not only get on the board but hold more Ultimate Fighting Championship titles than powerhouse countries Brazil or Russia.

The promotion currently has three Mexican champions: Brandon Moreno at flyweight, Yair Rodriguez as the interim featherweight beltholder and Alexa Grasso as the women’s flyweight champ. This ties the nation with the United States, in which Aljamain Sterling (bantamweight) Jamahal Hill (light heavyweight) and Jon Jones (heavyweight) hold straps in their weight categories. If the prediction of recent UFC signee and Lobo Gym Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Diego Lopes is accurate, Mexico will have its fourth concurrent champion on June 10. That night, at UFC 289 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Mexican challenger Irene Aldana will take on vaunted bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes in the main attraction. Lopes, in an interview with Sherdog shortly after his thrilling performance against Movsar Evloev at UFC 288, expected Aldana would pull off the upset.

“We are doing great team work in Lobo Gym for the last four years and it could be shown when Grasso beat Valentina [Shevchenko] and shocked the world,” Lopes boasted. “Now it is natural that Aldana is also a huge underdog against Amanda, who is no doubt one of the best ever, but I truly believe she will shock the world just like Grasso did.”

The coach and new UFC addition was coy on exactly how Aldana could play spoiler.

“Irene [has] evolved a lot [on her] ground game, but everybody knows her strong point is boxing. All I can say is that we will bring some surprises to Amanda,” noted the Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainer.

Lopes made a name for himself when he stepped in to replace Bryce Mitchell against Evloev five days before UFC 288. In their three-round affair, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt arguably gave the Russian the stiffest test of his undefeated career. Lopes believes his submissions – and Evloev’s toughness – might have caused some harm, inflicting damage that may have made lesser foes surrender.

“I heard his arm and leg pop, but I knew he wouldn't tap out,” Lopes revealed.

Lopes and Evloev earned “Fight of the Night” for their back-and-forth encounter, and UFC President Dana White informed him that he will be brought back soon. When asked to choose an opponent to his return to the Octagon, Lopes selected not one but two names.

“If I could choose a top 15 [opponent] to make another exciting fight, now with a complete camp, it would be Bryce Mitchell or Alex Caceres,” Lopes remarked confidently. “Any one of them would be a very nice matchup to my style, but I’m available for any other [fighter the] UFC chooses.”

Born in Manaus, Brazil, to a family of black belts – his father and uncle are trained under master Oswaldo Alves – Lopes started his MMA career when he was a purple belt at only 17 years of age.

“I needed my father to sign an authorization,” Lopes said with a laugh.

After winning at a couple of BJJ events and earning a few wins in MMA, Lopes reached brown belt. It was then that he accepted an invitation to teach BJJ in Mexico. He never looked back.

“First, I went to Cancun, but one year later, the academy closed, so I moved to Puebla where I opened my own academy,” the 28-year-old explained. “Later on, I was invited by Francisco Grasso to work with Lobo Team. There I started to work with his niece, Alexa Grasso, and Irene Aldana.”

The $50,000 in bonus money Lopes earned at UFC 288 was life-changing, both for him and his family. The featherweight used part of the bonus prize of UFC to come back home and visit his family. More of it went to his family.

“For the last nine years I’m in Mexico, [so] I just could visit my family once,” Lopes said. “Now, besides visiting my parents, I could use part of the money I got to help my mother to finish her dream of finishing her house construction.”

Lopes believes he has family everywhere, not just back in Manaus, but also in Mexico. With the ties he has made, he believes the community recognizes him as one of its own.

“I have to thank Mr. Francisco very much,” Lopes graciously stated. “When I was just 24 years old, he believed in me to be their jiu-jitsu head coach. Thanks to him, today I say my heart is half Mexican, half Brazilian. We worked really hard for the last four years and the result is coming.”

According to the fighter, he made a promise to teammate Aldana when her fight with Nunes was announced.

“I told Irene that if she conquered the belt against Amanda, I could retire as the youngest MMA trainer to have two world titles. That’s just a joke, but no matter the result, I’m really happy to see Mexico as a new powerhouse of MMA and [am proud to be] able to be part of it,” Lopes jovially concluded.