Diego Lopes not fighting Yair Rodriguez, wants Volkanovski at UFC 314

Diego Lopes continues to put his focus on fighting Alexander Volkanovski next.

Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) confirmed that he won’t be fighting Yair Rodriguez, which was rumored for the UFC on ESPN 64 main event on March 29 in Mexico City.

“The fight with Yair never happened,” Lopes told Submission Radio. “UFC talked to me, ‘OK now you sit down, you stay here, relax. Maybe we do a big fight for you.’ I’m training, I’m staying ready for for one big fight. I need one big fight now. I’m No. 3 in the rankings. I think Max (Holloway) is out of the rankings, but moved to lightweight. I don’t know what’s happening in the division now.”

With UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria continuing to tease a potential lightweight move, streaking hot contender Lopes has pivoted his attention to a championship fight with Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC).

“If (Topuria) moves, I think I’m next for the title to face Volk,” Lopes said. “I think they vacate the belt, no? I don’t know if Ilia would be ready for 145, maybe October, September? I don’t know. Ilia, I think he’ll move to lightweight.”

If Topuria does indeed move to lightweight, Volkanovski pitched the idea of fighting Lopes at UFC 314.

“I think this makes sense, right? Because I’m No. 3, Alex is No. 1,” Lopes said. “Ilia has moved for lightweight. Who’s the next fight for the title? I don’t have one fight for the title. I think me, Alex is make sense for the fight. April for me is really good timing.”

Lopes, who’s coming off a dominant win over Brian Ortega at UFC 306, likes how he matches up against former champion Volkanovski.

“This is a great fight, I need it so much,” Lopes said. “Alex has a lot of experience in UFC. This guy, I think his last 10 fights were five rounds. The guy has a lot of experience, but it’s a good fight for me. I proved myself. I’m ready for the champ.”

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