Diego Lopes was stopped by ruthless ground and pound strikes in his last TKO loss

One of the most exciting additions of the UFC in recent years has dealt with some losses along the way.

The career of Diego Lopes is a remarkable story that now sees him competing at the top of the featherweight division.

Despite his current form in the Octagon, even Lopes' UFC Run was not easy after he succeeded in making a limited loss in the short term.

The favorite of the Brazilian fan now returns to the main event of UFC 314 on April 12, where he will compete for the empty title of 145 pounds.

His opponent, the former champion Alexander Volkanovski, is convinced that he can beat Lopes to reclaim the crown, which would not be the first time that the rising competition has suffered a setback.

Photo by Ian Maule/Getty images

Diego Lopes apparently suffered an injury after a large soil and pound strikes

Diego Lopes, who was previously short in the Contender Series of Dana White, arrived in the UFC with a general record of 21-5.

Now with six losses in his name, the 30-year-old has never been submitted, but he has two TKO losses that came for a long time before he was in the UFC.

His most recent defeat came back in 2018 at ACB 78, where the 12-2 Lopes met with 3-1 Russian Amir Elzhurkaev.

Lopes had some success in the opening round with his striking and submission attempts from the soil, but his aggressive style left him open for different Takedowns.

Since then he has certainly improved, but although his tendency to do everything with his attack has made him a favorite of a fan, it comes with some disadvantages.

In the second place, Elzhurkaev got down early where he landed some effective ground and pound attacks and without so much output from his opponent, he really started to dominate the game.

The Brazilian was in trouble on the bottom and his face started to grimassen after his opponent landed an elbow to his middle section between the shots to the head.

From here, Elzhurkaev has capitalized by checking one of his opponent's arms before landing several unprotected hammer fists that forced the referee to step in.

Alexander Volkanovski will certainly test Diego Lopes in this area

Diego Lopes is an incredibly dangerous and creative entry artist, but that is not something that Alexander Volkanovski has not had to deal with in the past.

When fighting against dangerous grapplers, 'The Great' was able to keep himself safe while hitting a number of vicious strikes from the top and with his ruthless cardio, he is a nightmare in this position.

It seems likely that Volkanovski will look to mix things, especially if you look at how aggressive Lopes can be that cost him a few Takedowns in this TKO loss.

A big question will be whether the former champion is able to get his opponent down, keep him there and to stay out of danger at the same time.