UFC 300 Fight Card Preview: Sodiq Yusuff Vs. Diego Lopes

With the UFC 300 card taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 13, we are looking at each fight the UFC has booked for the historic event. Today’s focus is on the first fight of the ESPN prelims, a battle between the top-15 ranked Sodiq Yusuff and the fast-rising Diego Lopes. That fight takes place in the featherweight division.

UFC 300 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 13. The stacked card features two UFC title fights and a BMF title bout on the ESPN+ pay-per-view portion of the event.

Careers

Sodiq Yusuff

Sodiq Yusuff (13-3) joined the UFC in 2018 with a 7-1 record. He opened his run with the promotion by going unbeaten in four fights. His 2020 decision win over Andre Fili launched Yusuff into the official UFC featherweight rankings at No. 11. That win also earned him a shot at the No. 10 ranked Arnold Allen. Allen won that scrap by unanimous decision (29-28 x 3). The loss did not knock Yusuff out of the rankings, and he rebounded from that defeat by picking up a decision win over Alex Caceres and a submission victory over Don Shainis.

In 2023, Yusuff and Edson Barboza battled in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card at the UFC Apex. Yusuff, who was ranked No. 11 in the 145-pound weight class, entered the contest as a -170 betting favorite over his veteran opponent, who came in at +140. The fight earned each man a $50,0000 “Fight of the Night” bonus, but it was Barboza who had his hand raised at the end of the five-round battle with a unanimous decision victory.

The 30-year-old Yusuff has a 6-2 UFC record. Over the course of his career, he has won six fights by knockout, one by submission, and six by decision. His losses have come by knockout (one) and decision (two).

Diego Lopes

Diego Lopes was 19-3 when he fought on the Dana White Contender Series in 2021. He lost that fight via technical decision and fought on a Fury FC fight card two months later. Lopes also fell short in that contest, dropping a split decision. He rebounded in 2022 with back-to-back knockout wins.

The UFC then picked up the phone and gave Lopes a short-notice opportunity to replace Bryce Mitchell in a May 2023 matchup against former M-1 Global bantamweight titleholder Movsar Evloev, who was 6-0 in the UFC at the time. Evloev, who is now the No. 5 fighter at featherweight and 18-0 in his career, defeated Lopes by decision.

Lopes bounced back from that loss in a big way. He is currently on a two-fight winning streak with a submission win over Gavin Tucker and a November 2023 knockout triumph over Pat Sabatini.

The 29-year-old Lopes is 2-1 in the UFC. Over the course of his MMA career, Lopes has picked up nine KO wins, 12 submission victories, and two decision nods. His career losses have come by knockout (two) and decision (four).

UFC 300 Betting Odds for Yusuff vs. Lopes

Lopes opened as a -180 betting favorite in early March, but as of this writing he is currently at -133 with most of the movement coming in the past few days. As for Yusuff, he opened as a +140 betting underdog, and currently sits at +104.

Significant Stats

Yusuff is aggressive in his striking, with an average of 5.72 significant strikes landed per minute. His accuracy is 49 percent. As for defense, Yusuff absorbs 4.33 significant strikes per minute with a defense of 54 percent. He averages 0.28 takedowns per 15 minutes and succeeds on 20 percent of his takedown attempts. Yusuff has a takedown defense of 62 percent, and he picks up 0.4 submissions per 15 minutes of UFC cage time.

Lopes is less active than his UFC 300 opponent in his striking, landing 2.47 significant strikes per minute. However, he is more accurate than Yusuff at 53 percent. Lopes absorbs a reasonably high 4.91 significant strikes per minute, with a 37 percent defense. Lopes has not landed a UFC takedown, but his takedown defense is 42 percent, and his submission rate per 15 minutes is 5.3.

What to Expect

The UFC and its fans are fickle, and the matchmaking in this bout feels like the winner will get bigger and better opportunities. At the same time, the loser will fall in the featherweight pecking order and could become an athlete who gets matched up against the next batch of up-and-coming 145-pound competitors.

UFC CEO Dana White expects UFC 300 to break “every record at the T-Mobile Arena.”