{"id":38720,"date":"2026-06-09T16:26:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Diego-Lopes-details-why-he-is-backing-Justin-Gaethje-to-beat-Ilia-Topuria-201480"},"modified":"2026-06-09T16:26:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:26:43","slug":"diego-lopes-details-why-he-is-backing-justin-gaethje-to-beat-ilia-topuria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/diego-lopes-details-why-he-is-backing-justin-gaethje-to-beat-ilia-topuria\/","title":{"rendered":"Diego Lopes details why he is backing Justin Gaethje to beat Ilia Topuria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Diego
\nLopes<\/a> believes we might see a massive upset in the
\nUFC Freedom 250<\/a> main event\u2014and he is willing to explain
\nwhy.<\/p>\n

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

As Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a> (17-0) looks to defend his lightweight title against
\ninterim champion Justin
\nGaethje<\/a> (27-5) in the headliner of the UFC White House card on
\nJune 14, he figures to enter the Octagon as a 5-to-1 favorite or
\ngreater. Lopes initially favored Topuria, but claims he has changed
\nhis mind recently and is pulling for Gaethje to pull off the upset
\nhe feels is more of a possibility than most observers will admit.
\nLopes, who is scheduled to open up the event in a featherweight
\ntilt with Steve
\nGarcia<\/a>, told Ariel Helwani:<\/p>\n

\u201c99% of the people think Topuria takes the win, I thought so before
\ntoo. But now I jumped to Gaethje\u2019s side. Because this is like a car
\ncrash. In a car crash there 50-50 [chance]. Gaethje has heavy
\nhands. I hope Justin Gaethje surprises everyone and me too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopes also believes Topuria has yet to face a knockout artist of
\nGaethje\u2019s caliber. Topuria is coming off knockout wins over legends
\nin Alexnader Volkanovski, Max
\nHolloway<\/a> and Charles
\nOliveira<\/a>, but Lopes noted that Volkanovski and Holloway are not
\none-punch knockout artists, while Oliveira hits hard but lacks
\ntiming. However, Lopes believes Gaethje is different and can put
\nTopuria to sleep with a big shot:<\/p>\n

\u201c[Ilia\u2019s] fight with Volk – Volk is a great opponent, he\u2019s so
\nsmart, but he doesn\u2019t have a lot of powerful knockouts. Charles
\nOliveira<\/a>, he has power, but he doesn\u2019t connect like Topuria.
\nMax
\nHolloway<\/a>, same thing, he is not the guy to knock people out
\nwith just one punch. Justin
\nGaethje<\/a> is different; he can knock people out with just that
\none big punch.\u201d<\/p>\n