rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
Alexander Volkanovski has a question to ask following Noche UFC.
Diego Lopes shined when the lights were bright, and the crowd inside Frost Bank Center in San Antonio was firmly behind him. Standing across the Octagon from the Mexican star was Jean Silva, who hadn’t lost a fight since 2018.
After a dominant opening frame that saw Lopes rain down elbows in mount, things appeared to be swaying in Silva’s way in round two. Lopes remained patient and landed a counter spinning back elbow on Silva, who overcommitted. Some follow-up punches sealed the deal for Lopes.
Volkanovski has become familiar with Lopes, as the two battled for the UFC Featherweight Championship back in April. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, “The Great” admitted Lopes’ dominant start to the fight surprised him.
“Wild two rounds,” Volkanovski said. “I didn’t expect Diego to look so dominant early. I knew Diego’s chin would probably hold up, but I thought Jean Silva might land big on him early and then maybe tire, and then Diego maybe come on in them later rounds or something like that. I didn’t expect him to just grab a hold of him and almost ragdoll him. I don’t mean any disrespect to Jean Silva, but quite surprising how easy it was for Diego to control him.”
While Volkanovski praised Lopes for getting the job done, he feels he could’ve avoided the damage he took in the second stanza.
“I felt like Diego could’ve put himself a little bit more out of danger,” Volkanovski said.
Alexander Volkanovski’s Question in Noche UFC Fallout
Volkanovski defeated Lopes in their aforementioned April clash to capture the UFC featherweight title a second time. “The Great” said that he still doesn’t know who his next opponent will be.
“I think the UFC were waiting to see what happens with Jean Silva and Diego,” Volkanovski said. “I know Lerone Murphy is obviously one guy coming off a big KO against [Aaron] Pico. I obviously said to that one, ‘Yeah, see you later,’ but I’m guessing we’re waiting around to what happened with this fight. So, I don’t know.”
Volkanovski did pose a rather interesting question now that Noche UFC is in the books.
“Does Diego get a rematch?”
