Popular featherweight challenger Diego Lopes returns to the main card of UFC 306 this weekend, and the 25-6 Brazilian will finally face former title challenger Brian Ortega in his second attempt.
Ahead of Saturday’s massive PPV at The Sphere in Las Vegas, the stylish finisher gave his fans a sneak peek of who he predicts will join him in the winner’s circle at this amazing new arena.
Diego Lopes reveals his official predictions for the last six UFC 306 fights
After a narrow loss to Movsar Evloev in his UFC debut, Diego Lopes has gone from strength to strength, recording four impressive wins in a row, including a KO of Sodiq Yusuff and a UD victory over Dan Ige as early as 2024.
Lopes returns to action this weekend on the Mexican-themed UFC Noche card, and it’s safe to say the 29-year-old is expecting a total shutout from the fighters joining him in celebrating Independence Day weekend in Las Vegas.
“The first is Irene (Aldana), I think Irena has a chance to win by knockout,” Lopes explained as he gave his predictions on Blockasset’s BlockPicks with the help of 14-4 UFC flyweight Alessandro Costa: “I think the same, Irena by knockout”
“The second is the fight between Ronaldo (Rodriguez) and Ode (Osbourne). I believe that Luis Ronaldo will win, but by submission,” predicted Lopes. Costa also sided with the Mexican fighter, but instead predicted a TKO ending to the fight.
“The third fight is good – Daniel Zellhuber and Esteban Ribovics – I think Zellhuber wins by decision.
Costa was able to give some insight into this fight: “In his last fight he had good punch selection, good distance (control) and he knew how to control the fight, Esteban too, I know him and he is also a very aggressive athlete – I think it is a fight that Zellhuber will win by decision.”
Next up was the main fighter himself, and Lopes predicted he would beat Brian Ortega by KO inside the distance: “The next one is mine, Diego by KO. But I like that people don’t believe (in me), that’s good.”
Of Lopes’ 25 wins as a professional MMA athlete, 10 have come by KO/TKO, six of them in the first round – Ortega has only three losses on his record, two by KO/TKO, although one of those was the shoulder injury to Yair Rodriguez in 2022.
Moving on to the next fight, given that Lopes will be making two knockouts on Saturday night, once for his own fight and once for teammate Alexa Grasso, it’s no surprise that the Brazilian has chosen the flyweight champion as his defending champion.
“In the co-main event, I think Alexa (will win), of course I also think she will win by submission this time,” with Costa agreeing that after watching Grasso train, a victory by submission was the most likely outcome.
“The main event, O’Malley vs. Merab, is very difficult to predict,” said the featherweight contender, as the title fight, the climax of the UFC 306 program, is just a few days away, if not a few days away.
“A lot can happen, but I think from what we’ve seen, how often Merab gets hit and how precise O’Malley is, I think O’Malley will win by KO.
“All tips are O’Malley, Alexa, me, Zellhuber, Luis Ronaldo and Irena – these are my tips for the evening. We know the qualities of each of the players we have chosen and can only wait for the evening – and hope that our tips are right.”
UFC 306, also known as Noche UFC, will broadcast live from The Sphere on Saturday, September 14.
Related topics
