Diego Lopes Moving Up To Lightweight

Diego Lopes (28-8) has confirmed he is moving to lightweight following his knockout victory over Steve Garcia (19-6) at UFC Freedom 250.

After twice losing to featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (28-4), Lopes has chosen to leave the 145-pound division and pursue new opportunities at 155 pounds.

Lopes said talks over his lightweight debut are already advanced. He hopes to compete at UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden.

“Yes, [lightweight] is the way to go,” Lopes said. “We’re already in pretty advanced talks for the next opponent. I want to fight in November at Madison Square Garden.”

The UFC previously raised Arman Tsarukyan as a possible opponent, but discussions did not progress before Tsarukyan was booked to face Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331.

Lopes has also expressed interest in fighting Charles Oliveira, although no opponent has been confirmed.

For now, Lopes is targeting a high-profile opponent for his lightweight debut.