Diego Lopes is officially moving up to lightweight, and the UFC has a big fight waiting for him. The Brazilian will take on Charles Oliveira for the BMF title at UFC 335 on December 12 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The promotion announced the matchup during Saturday’s UFC 332 broadcast.
Lopes is coming off an impressive knockout win over Steve Garcia at UFC Freedom 250. He has also challenged Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title twice, but came up short at UFC 314 and UFC 325.
After two unsuccessful attempts to capture the 145-pound title, Lopes is ready to explore his options at 155 pounds. He had been teasing the move for some time and recently shared photos with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell, further fueling speculation about his next step. Interestingly, Oliveira wasn’t the only name on the table for Lopes’ lightweight debut.
Diego Lopes Says Dan Hooker and Benoit Saint-Denis Were Options for Lightweight Debut
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, the Brazilian revealed that the UFC presented him with several options before finalizing the BMF title fight.
“These guys know I’m open for every fight. I’m happy to take a fight with everyone in the weight class, but when I talked to the UFC about wanting to move to 155 to take a fun fight, UFC showed me the options,” Lopes said.
He also revealed that the idea of fighting Oliveira for the BMF title came up months ago. “They said, ‘We’d love you to fight for the BMF one day with Charles.’ This was back in July. At the end of July, I had a meeting with Hunter, and the first talk was fight Charles Oliveira for BMF.”
At the time, Oliveira was scheduled to face Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331 in Los Angeles. However, the fight fell through after Oliveira’s close friend Allan Nascimento passed away from a heart attack at just 34 years old.
With Oliveira initially booked against Tsarukyan, the UFC considered another matchup for Lopes: a main event against Dan Hooker in Paris. However, plans changed when the promotion signed Salahdine Parnasse and booked him to face Hooker instead.
Diego Lopes says Dan Hooker in Paris was actually the first lightweight fight discussed before the UFC moved on to Charles Oliveira:
“When we decided to move to 155, the UFC had a couple of options. At first, I was supposed to maybe fight Dan Hooker in Paris, but then the UFC signed [Salahdine Parnasse], so that fight didn’t happen.”
Lopes says Oliveira then became the priority, with Benoît Saint Denis in New York another possibility.
“We said, ‘What about Charles Oliveira?’ If that wasn’t possible, maybe BSD in New York. The UFC made the Oliveira fight, so I’m happy with this fight.”
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 6, 2026
“But Charles was supposed to fight with Arman in Los Angeles. When Charles was meant to fight Arman, the first option for me was Dan Hooker in Paris for the main event. Next day, UFC called me and said, ‘No, we signed Salahdine Parnasse, so he’s going to take the main event with Dan Hooker,’” Lopes explained.
The UFC then presented Lopes with another option in case Oliveira turned down the BMF title fight: Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 334 in New York.
“The UFC said if Charles doesn’t accept the fight, we want you to fight BSD (Saint Denis) in New York. I said, ‘OK, I love this fight, too. I’m down,’” Lopes revealed.
Lopes has made it clear that he feels he has little left to prove at featherweight after losing to Volkanovski twice. Even though he bounced back with a knockout victory over Garcia at the UFC’s White House event in July, the Brazilian decided it was time to try something new.
Now, Lopes gets the chance to make his lightweight debut against a former 155-pound champion in Oliveira. The matchup promises plenty of action, but the move up doesn’t necessarily mean Lopes is done with featherweight for good. For now, though, his focus will be on making a statement against Oliveira at UFC 335.
Kshitiz Kumar Singh is a UFC Writer at NY Fights with over three years of experience in sports journalism and content creation. Known for his sharp storytelling and passion for combat sports, he has written in-depth features on stars like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, and Ilia Topuria. Before joining NY Fights, Kshitiz worked as a UFC Editor at EssentiallySports while currently serving as a WWE Editor at FirstSportz. His admiration for legends like Georges St-Pierre continues to inspire his detailed and engaging MMA coverage. Whether he’s covering the Octagon or the squared circle, Kshitiz is committed to delivering accurate, high-quality content. Outside the world of sports, he’s a dedicated cinephile, often found practicing monologues from his favorite Al Pacino films, combining his love for cinema with storytelling.
