Diego Lopes reveals he was offered bizarre UFC Paris clash before promotion changed their mind

Before booking him in the final main event of the year, the UFC offered Diego Lopes a fight in Paris.

This past weekend during the premier MMA promotion’s return to Salt Lake City, they announced that Charles Oliveira will headline UFC 335, which is the final main event of the year in a BMF title defense against Diego Lopes.

Lopes is coming off the back of a hugely viral win on the UFC Freedom 250 event this past June, where he knocked out Steve Garcia in the second round before standing on top of the cage, resulting in one of the most iconic UFC photos of all time.

And despite having been afforded a title fight – of sorts – the exciting Brazilian contender has revealed that he was actually offered quite a bizarre fight before the promotion changed their mind.

Oliveira holds the record for the most submission wins in UFC history with 17.

Following his second loss to Alexander Volkanovski this past January, the 31-year-old claimed that he would move up to lightweight in pursuit of winning the 155lb title instead. Despite that, the opportunity to fight at the White House was too much for him to turn down.

After that fight, though, Lopes once again revealed his desire to move up in weight, and the UFC listened to his request. And now, Lopes has revealed that before he was offered the BMF title fight against Oliveira, he was offered a UFC Paris clash against Dan Hooker.

“When we decided to move to 155lbs, the UFC had a couple of options. At first, I was supposed to maybe fight Dan Hooker in Paris but the UFC signed (Salahdine Parnasse), so that fight didn’t happen,” Lopes told The Ariel Helwani Show. “I reached out to the UFC and said I wanted to fight Charles Oliveira, and if he wasn’t possible, maybe (Benoit Saint-Denis) in New York,” Lopes continued.

‘Hangman’ Hooker went on to fight UFC newcomer Salahdine Parnasse in what was a monumental debut for him in Paris, where he went on to finish Hooker in the first round. Benoit Saint-Denis on the other hand last fought Paddy Pimblett in July, losing brutally in under a minute.

Some fans are surprised that Lopes has been put into a BMF title fight considering the fact that his previous two title fights have ended pretty disastrously. However, the 31-year-old has attempted to defend the promotion’s decision, claiming that he is always in exciting fights.

“You tell me, do you like my fights?” Lopes asked when it was brought up that the UFC love him so much. “I just go to the cage, do my job, and win or lose, I always try to put on a great fight. I think that’s the reason I have these opportunities. A couple of people say, ‘I don’t think Diego deserves to fight for the BMF.’ Ok, tell me another guy who deserves to fight for the BMF and can put on a great fight with Charles.

“I think a couple of guys are jealous. I’ve only been in the UFC three, three-and-a-half years. It’s not a long time. Of course I think a couple of guys are jealous, but it’s not my business. I just do my job,” he continued.