What can Lopes do differently at UFC 325 to dethrone Volkanovski?

Most fighters that fall short in their first championship opportunity never end up getting a second shot at UFC gold, yet Diego Lopes is back in the spotlight as a title challenger for the second time in 10 months.

Lopes headlines UFC 325 this weekend in Australia in a rematch against reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski — and the exciting 145-pound contender doesn’t have to look very far back in history to find some inspiration and examples of a challenger coming through in that scenario.

Last year’s slate of numbered events concluded with Petr Yan winning a dominant decision over Merab Dvalishvili in December to claim the men’s bantamweight title and simultaneously avenge a previous decision loss. Also, Alex Pereira regained the light-heavyweight title in October by stopping Magomed Ankalaev just seven months after he initially lost the belt to him via decision.

Volkanovski and Lopes headlined UFC 314 in a vacant title matchup last April in Miami, with the former winning a unanimous decision that began his second stint as the division’s champion. 

Volkanovski’s first lengthy title reign ended when he was knocked out by Ilia Topuria in February 2024, but Topuria vacated the title later that year and permanently moved up to lightweight. 

The popular 37-year-old Australian, who’ll have the home crowd on his side at UFC 325, rebounded from that loss to Topuria with a vintage performance against Lopes.

The veteran put up a brilliant opening round, proving his skill set hadn’t waned one iota despite previously losing the belt, and didn’t slow down as the fight progressed. Volkanovski out-landed Lopes in each of the five rounds (165-71 overall) and his elite fight IQ and footwork had him leading the dance for nearly the entire 25-minute contest. 

Lopes wasn’t often able to successfully cut the cage off to find angles for his punches and showed a one-dimensional, boxing-heavy game plan to which Volkanovski adjusted.

“I think he’s going to be a little bit more aggressive this time,” Volkanovski told Sportsnet when the rematch was initially announced in December.

Lopes, the 31-year-old Brazilian who now fights out of Mexico, did manage to drop Volkanovski at the end of the second round with a heavy overhand right. Lopes also had a huge moment midway through the fourth round, which was his best five-minute stretch of the fight, when he had Volkanovski retreating after stinging him with a well-timed uppercut and a series of damaging follow-up punches.

Volkanovski sees those types of offensive blitzes as Lopes’ best path to victory in the rematch as well.

“I think he knows that his best chance is to land a big shot and I think that’s what he’ll be looking for,” added Volkanovski, who also said he’s expecting Lopes to focus more on cutting off the cage when pursuing the champ in the rematch. “But obviously when you’re that aggressive you leave yourself open as well, so I’ve got to be able to stand my ground and land those big (counter) shots but be smart when I do it.”

If the incumbent titleholder can perform at the same level he did at UFC 314, then Lopes will have to bring something different to the table if he hopes to become champion.

While Volkanovski hasn’t fought since he stood opposite Lopes last year, Lopes returned to the win column in September with a technical knockout stoppage of the red-hot Jean Silva in one of 2025’s most entertaining Fight Night main events.

It was clear in that win over Silva that Lopes had begun making certain adjustments to his fighting style after falling short in his first title opportunity.

Lopes landed just seven of 10 attempted leg kicks and didn’t attempt a single takedown across 25 minutes at UFC 314. Those techniques would’ve benefitted him against Volkanovski.

Against Silva, who has a similar build and stance to Volkanovski, Lopes landed 10 leg kicks that damaged Silva’s calf and was successful on three of four takedown attempts that resulted in him inflicting copious damage on the ground.

Lopes boasts some of the most dangerous knockout power and submission skills in the lighter weight classes, but giving Volkanovski new looks and mixing up his offence will be imperative for him to have more success in the rematch.

Lopes’ only losses in the UFC were his first encounter with Volkanovski, which earned a Fight of the Night bonus, and his UFC debut in 2023 that he made on just five days’ notice before falling short via decision in a three-round Fight of the Night with current No. 1 featherweight contender Movsar Evloev.

Besides those two FOTN-winning losses, it’s been all smiles for Lopes who in addition to stopping Silva holds wins over established veterans Brian Ortega and Dan Ige.

The featherweight division is not lacking in quality title contenders at the moment — Evloev and Lerone Murphy, for example, are both unbeaten in the UFC and have done enough to warrant a title shot — so the timing of booking a Volkanovski vs. Lopes sequel was initially met with skepticism.

It’s irrelevant, however, whether Lopes deserved this title rematch with Volkanovski so soon after their first fight, or if perhaps there is some favouritism at hand due to Lopes’ appeal and star potential.

The reality is Lopes accepted the fight — because why he would he turn down a shot at redemption? — and he won’t be apologizing to anyone if he gets his hand raised at Qudos Bank Arena.

Win or lose, Volkanovski is nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career and a subplot to this rematch is the possibility that UFC 325 could mark the final fight of his incredible UFC tenure.

If Volkanovski can go 2-0 against Lopes, then a storybook opportunity to hang up his gloves in front of his home crowd will present itself. On the other hand, if Lopes can pull off the upset, then it could potentially set up a title trilogy bout later in the year as the rest of the division’s contenders are left jockeying for position in the ever-changing fighter rankings.