Diego Lopes responds to criticism of cardio ahead of UFC 314 title fight vs. Alexander Volkanovski

Some say cardio is king in MMA, and that’s why some fans are siding with Alexander Volkanovski to beat Diego Lopes in their upcoming UFC title fight.

Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) and Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) meet next month in the main event of UFC 314. in Miami, Fla. They’ll be competing for the vacant UFC featherweight title, which was left behind by Ilia Topuria moving up to lightweight.

Lopes, who’s on a five-fight winning streak since losing his UFC debut, has quickly become a star in the division. But though respected by many, some remain skeptical of his chances of winning the title – especially after watching him lose steam in his decision win over Dan Ige at UFC 303 last summer.

“I think (Volkanovski) might go in there and look to do a mix of his game because a lot of people are still complaining that I might not have cardio for five rounds,” Lopes told Habelmos MMA in Spanish. “People are still hanging on to what happened in the fight against Dan Ige, that I slowed down. But that’s OK. People have mouths, and they’ll say whatever they want. I’m ready for Volkanovski’s best version, and I’m ready to show my best version.”

Lopes was originally scheduled to fight Brian Ortega on short notice at UFC 303. In a bizzare sequence of events, Ortega ended up withdrawing from the bout due to illness the day of the fight, and Ige stepped in on hours notice to fight Lopes at a catch weight of 160 pounds.

The Brazilian says he was affected by the short notice, and also by fighting 15 pounds over what he originally agreed to. Lopes feels he redeemed himself the following fight by going the distance and dominating Ortega at UFC 306 – which is why he couldn’t care less what critics have to say.

“That’s ok. I’m not bothered y them at all,” Lopes explained. “People have mouths, and they will say whatever they want, and they don’t want to see things in the way that they are.

“Why does nobody mention the knockdowns I did to Brian Ortega in the third round and how I was doing in that third round? I won all three rounds and I dominated that fight. Why do people don’t mention that? Why don’t they mention that a judge gave me a 30-26?

“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.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.