Diego Lopes Finally Puts The Brian Ortega Chapter Of His Career Behind Him

Diego Lopes just defeated Brian Ortega via unanimous decision in a pretty good three-round scrap at the Sphere - and he's already screaming at Dana White, asking "Who's next?" like he's Goldberg!

You may recall that this fight was originally supposed to happen over the Summer at UFC 303, but Brian Ortega was unable to make the Featherweight limit and came down with a 103 degree fever that forced him out of the fight on a few hours notice - and then Dan Ige stepped up to face Diego Lopes on the night of the PPV. It definitely made sense to rebook it for this card, in my opinion, but all of the talk surrounding this fight has felt like deja vu all week - and I bet both of these guys were ready to put this chapter of their careers in the past.

Diego Lopes came up on the winning end of this rivalry tonight, where he was able to really piece Ortega up for three straight rounds. Plus, he put a welt the size of Mexico on his shin bone….

Ortega's a tough motherfucker, as we know, and hung in there where I believe most of the division would've been finished - but it just wasn't enough to get the job done against Lopes, who is on an unbelievable tear right now. Featherweight's a bit of a shitshow rankings wise, but I think Lopes at least put himself in the conversation for a title shot.

Title fights up next! I've got Grasso via DEC and O'Malley via KO, but we'll see what happens!