Diego Lopes highlights an unprecedented factor for Volkanovski at UFC 325: 'He has extra pressure'

Volkanovki defeated Diego Lopes . Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC

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Diego Lopes is confident about another chapter in his UFC journey. The Brazilian, who represents Mexico in the Ultimate, will face Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch for the featherweight title (up to 65,7 kg) at event number 325, this Saturday (31), in Sydney, Australia. Despite fighting in his opponent's home country, the athlete highlighted an unprecedented factor that could weigh in favor of the current champion.

In an interview with the 'UFC Brasil' channel, Lopes emphasized that he is already used to fighting in his opponents' home country, given that he left Brazil about ten years ago. When asked if this home advantage could help Volk, the Brazilian offered a counter-argument, suggesting that fighting in front of the Australians could negatively influence the course of the fight.

"People have been asking me this a lot (about how I feel fighting in my opponent's home country). For me it's normal because ten years ago I left Brazil and, since then, all my fights have been in enemy territory. It's nothing new for me, I know I'll get booed, that's normal, but I'm okay with that and even motivated."

"I think more than for me (the pressure), he (Volkanovski) has extra pressure because he's fighting at home and it's the first time he's defending the featherweight belt in his own country. So, I believe he has that pressure, that need to take the next step, to try to finish the fight as quickly as possible so that the fans can go home happy," Diego Lopes told the 'UFC Brasil' channel.

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Aware of the great opportunity he has in his hands, Diego Lopes is making the final adjustments to his preparation before facing Alexander Volkanovski on January 31st. Check out the UFC 325 fight card below (subject to change).

UFC 325 fight schedule

MAIN CARD

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes – Title fight

Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Dan Hooker vs. Benoit Saint Denis

Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Rafael Fiziev vs. Mauricio Ruffy

Heavyweight (up to 120,2 kg): Tai Tuivasa vs. Tallison Teixeira

Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Quillan Salkilld x Jamie Mullarkey

PRELIMINARY CARD

Light heavyweight (up to 93 kg): Junior Tafa vs. Billy Elekana

Average weight (up to 83,9 kg): Cam Rowston x Cody Brundage

Average weight (up to 83,9 kg): Jacob Malkoun x Torrez Finney

Welterweight (up to 77 kg): Jonathan Micallef vs. Oban Elliott

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Kaan Ofli x Yi Zha

Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): SangWook Kim x Dom Mar Fan

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Keiichiro Nakamura vs. Sebastian Szalay

Bantamweight (up to 61,2 kg): Sulangrangbo x Lawrence Lui

Flyweight (up to 56,7kg): Aaron Tau vs. Namsrai Batbayar

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