Diego Lopes knows better than anyone how to dethrone a dominant champion. Lopes trained and cornered Alexa Grasso for her landmark submission victory over flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko, and will be in Irene Aldana’s corner opposite bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 289.
Lopes is promising another shocking upset for women’s MMA, detailing his prediction for the fight in a recent episode of Trocação Franca.
Can Irene Aldana Shock Amanda Nunes At UFC 289?
““Amanda is a tough fight for anyone in the division. We know she’s the best in the division, but I think our team is used to fighting that, like Alexa did with Valentina. Everybody saw Valentina as unbeatable, and we went there and did our job to win the fight.”
Amanda Nunes’ aura of invincibility cracked when she lost her title to Julianna Pena last year, but Nunes decisively defeated Pena in the rematch. Now, Diego Lopes feels like the chinks in Nunes’ armor are showing, and it’s time for Irene Aldana to take the reigns.
“I think we can surprise Amanda like that. To go in there and show something Amanda hasn’t faced yet, which is the level of boxing Irene has, to surprise her and bring the second [UFC] belt to the team and the fourth to Mexico.
It really depends on what the UFC has in mind for Alexa. We’ll be ready to fight any opponent the UFC gives us.”
Lopes continued, singing the praises of other Mexican fighters Yair Rodriguez, who will face Alexander Volkanovski for the undisputed featherweight championship, and Brandon Moreno, who will defend his title against Alejandre Pantoja.
“I’ll be watching them, especially Yair’s fight with Volkanovski, because I like to watch every fighter in my division and see at what level they are.
It’s a hard fight, and it might be surprising. Yair could win, but Volkanovski could dominate the fight. I think it’s going to be very dynamic, and will go down to the small details.
[Moreno vs. Pantoja] will be very interesting because Pantoja already beat Brandon twice, once on [The Ultimate Fighter] and then in the UFC, so let’s see what they bring to the table now.
I had the opportunity to train with Brandon a few times and see his evolution. It’s going to be a very tough fight and we stay on the fence — having trained with Brandon and having a friendship with him, I hope he gets to defends the belt and keep it in Mexico because the country is working really hard for years to get to this point.”
