Diego Lopes is all smiles no matter what anyone says about his surprising UFC title shot.
On Thursday, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Lopes is set to challenge featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 325, which takes place Jan. 31 in Sydney, Australia. Lopes is coming off of a spectacular knockout of Jean Silva at Noche UFC 3, but the timing of the rematch is odd considering Volkanovski just defeated Lopes at UFC 314 this past April.
Top featherweight contenders Lerone Murphy and Aljamain Sterling criticized the booking, with Murphy writing, “It’s not about who’s the best anymore. It’s about who’s most popular,” Sterling issuing several tweets questioning the matchmakers’ decision.
On Friday, Lopes issued a response on social media to everyone complaining about him getting his rematch, with some harsh words aimed specifically at his fellow featherweights.
“My face when I saw everyone crying,” Lopes wrote. “Sitting around, he won’t give you a title fight. Get to work and stop whining on social media.”
Lopes’ retort makes sense when it comes to the undefeated Movsar Evloev, who holds a win over Sterling but didn’t log an in-cage appearance in 2025, but doesn’t apply to Murphy or Sterling, who both competed in August (only one month before Lopes’ most recent fight). Murphy, undefeated in 18 pro bouts including 10 UFC appearances, scored a highlight-reel knockout of former Bellator star Aaron Pico, and Sterling won a lopsided decision over two-time UFC title challenger Brian Ortega.
Evloev has already stepped forward and suggested he and Murphy fight for the next title shot, while Murphy is simply ready to move on.
See more of Sterling’s critical comments below.
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