Diego Lopes was hoping to get his crack at Ilia Topuria at some point, but understands if the soon-to-be former featherweight champion wants a new challenge.
With Dana White announcing that Topuria is vacating his 145-pound title for a move to lightweight, Lopes now faces Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant belt in the main event of UFC 314 on April 12. While reacting to Topuria giving back the championship in an interview with broadcast partner ESPN, Lopes says the roster has been told by UFC brass that if a titleholder wants to pursue a second title, they have to lose their championship in order to take the risk.
“They were very clear to us that they said that they are no longer giving [the] chance to jump from one weight class to another,” Lopes said. “If you want to move up, you have to vacate your title. That’s what UFC has said to all champions who are planning to move up a weight class. They will no longer have the status of double champion simultaneously.
“If he is going to be a double champion, [he] will be nothing more than a champion of two categories.”
Diego Lopes reacts to Ilia Topuria vacating title, says UFC changed rules on double-champ status
Diego Lopes reveals some new UFC rules for champions, and reacts to Ilia Topuria vacating the featherweight title.
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