Diego Lopes' meteoric rise may reach its pinnacle on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
On Friday, the Brazilian featherweight announced he will serve as the backup fighter for the UFC 308 main event title fight between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.
Lopes, 29, made his promotional debut at UFC 288 in May, signing with the UFC on short notice to take on Movsar Evloev in what ended up as a unanimous decision loss for the newcomer.
Since then, Lopes (26-6-0) has rattled off five consecutive wins — three of which he ended in the first round — including his most recent victory at UFC 306, a unanimous decision over Brian Ortega that catapulted the Brazilian ten spots on the 145-pound leaderboard all the way to third.
After yet another impressive victory, Lopes made it clear he had interest in fighting for a title sooner rather than later, and he may get that opportunity in a little under two months after making that statement at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Should something happen to either the champion Topuria or challenger Holloway, Lopes appears ready to step in and make the most of it.
Former champion Alexander Volkanovski has been rumoured to be in the mix for a shot at whoever comes out victorious at UFC 308, but it's unclear if the addition of Lopes into the mix changes that situation.
MMA fans will just have to wait and see.
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