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Diego Lopes announces lightweight move, 'advanced talks' for UFC return

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1 month ago

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Diego Lopes announces lightweight move, 'advanced talks' for UFC return
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Colby Covington praises Arman Tsarukyan following RAF 11 match: “You're gonna be the UFC lightweight champâ€
Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

UFC fan favorite Diego Lopes will make the full-time move to the lightweight division after his latest win at UFC Freedom 250.

Former UFC featherweight title challenger Diego Lopes is in a bizarre spot in the 145-pound title picture after suffering two losses to current titleholder Alexander Volkanovski. Despite making a strong case for a title shot with an impressive come-from-behind knockout against Steve Garcia at the White House, Lopes would likely have to win a few fights before making the case for another shot at the belt.

Lopes, who lost back-to-back title fights to Volkanovski, has also earned recent featherweight wins over Jean Silva and Brian Ortega. But Lopes is big for the featherweight division and has teased a potential move to lightweight for months.

Amidst his peculiar spot in the featherweight division, Lopes is taking matters into his own hands and making the move to lightweight.

Diego Lopes announces full-time move to lightweight, hoping for MSG return

In a recent interview with Ag.Fight, Lopes shared an update on his return to the Octagon.

“We're taking the leap in our career now; we're going up a division, in advanced talks,†Lopes said.

“We're hoping to fight at MSG in November.â€

One potential lightweight opponent is BMF titleholder Charles Oliveira, who was rumored to fight Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331 before pulling out of recent fight talks. Oliveira's teammate Allan Nascimento's tragic death leaves a timeline for the BMF champion's return to the Octagon unclear.

Lopes hasn't fought at lightweight in his UFC tenure, although he fought in a 165-pound catchweight bout against Dan Ige at UFC 303. He's fought as low as bantamweight during his combat sports career.

As the lightweight division continues to blossom with intriguing matchups for the rest of the year, Lopes' addition opens the door to plenty of possible bookings. We could be weeks away from getting news on Lopes' return to the cage.

Who should Diego Lopes fight next? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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MMA

UFC Vegas 121 ‘Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

8 hours ago

on

September 25, 2026

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UFC Vegas 121 ‘Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
UFC Vegas 121 coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The
event is also known as
UFC Fight Night 289.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Fridley scores the round:

Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

Round 1

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Brian Knapp scores the round:
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Mike Fridley scores the round:

Round 2

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Brian Knapp scores the round:
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Round 4

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Round 5

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The Official Result

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MMA

‘Living in some alternative reality’: Frederic Vosgrone admits ‘I don’t even know’ what makes him an MMA star

Published

11 hours ago

on

September 25, 2026

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‘Living in some alternative reality’: Frederic Vosgrone admits ‘I don’t even know’ what makes him an MMA star

Frederic Vosgrone has no idea what makes him a star, but life hasn't been the same since the moment he first entered the Oktagon cage in April 2025.

The Dutch fighter was 3-0 in the sport when he made his promotional debut against Jorick Montagnac, making it clear that grappling was his go-to thing in MMA when he grabbed Montagnac's leg like his life depended on it. It paid off, as he took his opponent to the ground and got the tap with an arm-triangle choke. That sequence went viral almost immediately.

Vosgrone saw his Instagram page go from 4,000 followers to hundreds of thousands in a matter of weeks, and tapping out Fabio Moraes months later only grew his name in Europe. From an unknown grappler to 5-0 MMA sensation, Vosgrone was now posing for pictures with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt and about to face off with veteran Karlos Vemola at Oktagon 94 in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sept. 26.

“It's difficult to even find the word for it,†Vosgrone told MMA Fighting earlier this year. “I don't think the word has been invented, you know? Especially the first couple of months was kind of living in some alternative reality [laughs], Sometimes I'm like, ‘what the fuck?' Crazy. I guess trying to get used to it. I probably could have met more famous people, but I try to not to do much. I feel like as long as I'm a successful fighter, all the things are going to happen anyway even more.â€

Life as star is good and you want to make the most of it, but it comes with extras that could affect the actual fighting career of someone who's just starting in the game. Vosgrone, now with 665,000 followers on Instagram, “quickly realized that it's going to be difficult to do real training†if he decided to say yes to every invitation to podcasts, interviews, and appearances.

“It was always pretty difficult doing jiu-jitsu and teaching and fighting MMA on smaller shows; now it makes it easier to focus on [just] fighting,†Vosgrone said. “But also obviously with a lot more pressure, a lot more people's eyes on me, so I need to make sure that I keep going. Otherwise, I pretty much just do the same things, try to train and don't try to get distracted, just focusing on not letting people down [laughs].â€

In the end, the light heavyweight sensation says “I don't even know†what makes him such a star in the MMA scene.

“I mean, obviously in Germany I understand, there's not too many good German fighters, so the people get behind the good ones,†Vosgrone said. “But then I see a lot of people in Brazil know me and then I'm like crazy. I guess if I'm entertaining for the people and they like it then, yeah. I guess the social media algorithms love me [laughs].â€

Vosgrone knows that the sport is cruel and one punch landed on the right spot could immediately ruin the fun and turn himself in a meme. However, he guarantees that pressure to continue to deliver entertainment and victories won't get to his head “because I'm pretty confident in my fighting skills and I've achieved a lot of things before MMA and jiu-jitsu.â€

“I fought good opponent that I beat in MMA, and I'm pretty confident that I'm going to beat many more really good people,†Vosgrone said, “so I'm not really too worried about that too much. But obviously, still gives me fire to improve and show the people what I can do. … My goal since when I started jiu-jitsu was always to fight in the UFC, so yeah, that's still my ultimate goal. And I feel like if you're an MMA fighter and you haven't been in the UFC, maybe you're gonna feel after that you've missed out on something, or you didn't achieve something, so I definitely want to fight there.â€

He won't think too much about the future when there are challenges in front of him in Oktagon. For now, Vosgrone is just excited to return to Germany.

“I'm pretty excited,†Vosgrone said. “The scene here is pretty crazy, and the support I get from the fans here when I was walking out like last fight, I definitely can't wait to feel that energy again.â€

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MMA

Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua reportedly in jeopardy, Fury responds to ‘s***house cowards’ Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn

Published

12 hours ago

on

September 25, 2026

By

Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua reportedly in jeopardy, Fury responds to ‘s***house cowards’ Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn

“Breaking news, Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are trying to pull out of this fight. They're saying they're not going to fight now. They're little shithouse cowards. It's mainly to do with Eddie Hearn's ego. He's making up a million different things, and threatening they're not going to fight, we're not going to fight, we're not going to fight. You little coward. AJ, pull your finger out you little white-flagged, yellow-bellied coward.

“Now we're coming home. Now I'm coming home. The Gypsy King is coming back to the United Kingdom to thrash you in front of all my fans in Wales, you absolute little nugget, bodybuilding sausage. And now you're making a million excuses. Now you've got Turki Alalshikh finding alternative real men who will fight at the drop of a hat. So I hope you are happy, you little cowardly bastards. I've never seen anything like you. You're pure shithouses, and this is mainly to do with Eddie Hearn's ego. What a little prick. He's cost us the biggest fight in boxing history. Clown.â€

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