{"id":38411,"date":"2026-05-22T18:36:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Nova-Uniao-prospect-Keweny-Lopes-eager-to-make-mark-at-PFL-Brussels-201282"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:36:45","slug":"nova-uniao-prospect-keweny-lopes-eager-to-make-mark-at-pfl-brussels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/nova-uniao-prospect-keweny-lopes-eager-to-make-mark-at-pfl-brussels\/","title":{"rendered":"Nova Uniao prospect Keweny Lopes eager to make mark at PFL Brussels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Keweny
\n\u201cLeao\u201d Lopes<\/a> was born into deep poverty in the interior of
\nBrazil. It\u2019s not a rare scenario, but through hard work, belief in
\na higher power and maybe a little luck, the fighter finds himself
\nin the
\nProfessional Fighters League<\/a> with a chance to impress fans
\naround the world.<\/p>\n

He shared his personal history with Sherdog.com:<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had every kind of job, except for trafficking or selling my
\nbody. I\u2019ve never experimented with my health by taking drugs. I\u2019ve
\nbeen a cook, did laundry, was a janitor, a juice vendor, a stone
\nsmith, mechanic and factory worker. Thankfully I met some people
\nwho broadened my horizons and, through studies, I was able to
\nimprove my standard of living. It\u2019s necessary to understand
\nlogistics and prepare well, so every mission can be
\naccomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

By age 20, Lopes moved to Rio de Janeiro to join the world-famous
\n
\nNova Uniao<\/a> team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lived there until 2022. That\u2019s when I moved to Zurich,
\nSwitzerland, to live with my son\u2019s mother. Our marriage didn\u2019t work
\nout. Now I live in Frankfurt, Germany. It\u2019s where I live and
\nwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 30-year old featherweight faces France\u2019s Adam
\nMeskini<\/a> at
\nPFL Brussels<\/a> on Saturday. Meskini has never been finished and
\nis looking to extend his winning streak in the PFL to three in a
\nrow. Lopes, coming off a TKO loss in his promotional debut, hopes
\nto get back to his old ways, and prove why he deserves his spot in
\nthe big leagues. The September 2025 loss to Amin Ayoub<\/a>
\nstill stings. Some considered it an early stoppage<\/a>. But that\u2019s water
\nunder the bridge. The capoeira expert had an 11-fight undefeated
\nstreak from 2016 to 2024 in the Brazilian scene. 75% of his career
\nwins have been by KO\/TKO. So, fans know what to expect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lopes got ready for Meskini at Nova Uniao\u2019s academy in Rio, his
\nhome away from home.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy training camp was blessed. I had much better planning. I\u2019ve
\nbeen dreaming of this moment. I had eight weeks to get ready. I\u2019m
\nvery thankful for everything that\u2019s been happening in my life. I
\nwould like to thank the Nova Uniao team, especially coaches
\nJose
\nCarlos Dias<\/a>, Daniel
\nMalvino<\/a>, Johnny
\nEduardo<\/a>, Giovanni
\nDiniz<\/a>, Welerson Goncalves<\/a>, and primarily master Andre
\nPederneiras<\/a>. With them, I worked on my jiu-jitsu, wrestling,
\nmuay thai, boxing and no-gi. I fell ill during this training camp.
\nWe took special measures and kept working. We gathered the best
\npossible information about my opponent. I got better. I\u2019m strong
\nnow. And I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

An elite and
\nundefeated welterweight prospect headlines PFL Brussels against a
\nformer UFC champ: Tune in Saturday, May 23 at 4 p.m. ET on
\nESPN2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lopes knows that no man is an island. Unlike so many brash
\nfighters, full of bravado, he humbly credits his family,
\nparticularly his grandmother:<\/p>\n

\u201cI come from a very humble family. Some of my uncles were born at
\nhome. We left the city of Pirapora due to the lack of resources. My
\nfather went looking for something better, so I ended up being
\nraised by my grandmother. She\u2019s always supported me in every
\npossible way. She educated me and made me the man I am today. My
\nnext win is dedicated to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life\u2019s harsh lessons have not discouraged him — just the opposite.
\n\u201cLeao\u201d remains driven.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a difficult life. I\u2019ve been homeless. But life is about
\novercoming and learning. Today, I know not to judge people, and see
\nboth sides of the coin. To survive, it\u2019s necessary to believe in
\nGod and work hard. I\u2019m not seeking fame. I\u2019m just looking to earn
\nmoney to take care of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is well aware of his abilities and remains confident.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy focus now is on this fight. I\u2019ll use all my weapons to bring
\nhome a victory. I have no doubt I will be the world champion. It\u2019s
\njust a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

\u2696\ufe0f
\n#PFLBrussels<\/a> Official Weigh Ins<\/p>\n

Adam Meskini: 145.8 lbs
Keweny Lopes: 145.3 lbs#PFLBrussels<\/a>
\n| Saturday, May 23rd | Prelims 12:30PM EST | Main Card 3PM ET on
\nthe ESPN App pic.twitter.com\/6yn9FQgKfc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 PFL (@PFLMMA)
\nMay 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Keweny \u201cLeao\u201d Lopes was born into deep poverty in the interior of Brazil. It\u2019s not a rare scenario, but through hard work, belief in a higher power and maybe a little luck, the fighter finds himself in the Professional Fighters League with a chance to impress fans around the world. He shared his personal history […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}