Diego Lopes, UFC featherweight contender and recent title challenger, has registered to compete at the IBJJF Master Worlds in the gi. He enters the Master 1 Male Light division at 168 lbs (76 kg), joining a field of 32 other registered competitors.
High-level MMA practitioners rarely commit to IBJJF competition, and those who do tend to draw attention. Demetrious Johnson was one of the more prominent examples, competing in IBJJF events over several years before eventually finding the black belt level too steep a climb and stepping away from the format.
Lopes, however, is not a newcomer to that level. He has held his black belt for years, which means he steps in as a seasoned practitioner rather than someone testing unfamiliar waters. How he measures up against a field of dedicated grapplers in the gi will be worth watching.
Lopes’ history on the mat traces back to Brazil, but the more complete version of his story runs through Puebla, Mexico, where he has lived since leaving home at 19. He went there initially to teach jiu-jitsu and trained under Francisco Grasso, the uncle of former UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso. Over time, Puebla became his second home in a way that extended well beyond the gym.
That sense of belonging, and the memory of arriving with very little, led Lopes to establish Brazilian Warriors, a non-profit jiu-jitsu academy serving the Puebla community.
“When I first started training, I had nothing,” Lopes said. “Now that I have support, sponsors and people behind me, I want to give back the things I did not have when I first started.”
The academy recently hosted a seminar open to children between five and seventeen years old. “We’re here at Brazilian Warriors in the city of Puebla,” Lopes said. “Many who start this journey of MMA start with nothing.”
He made clear the event was designed to ease that beginning: “Today we’ll be having a seminar for kids ranging from 5 to 17 years old. We’ll be giving away kimonos, T-shirts, hats and gloves. All of these with help from our sponsors: Monster, Venum and True Classic.” On the broader aim of the program, Lopes was direct: “This program offers support to kids.”
His MMA career took its own winding path to the top. He came up short on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, then accepted a short-notice assignment against Movsar Evloev in 2023 and dropped a decision. That performance, despite the outcome, was strong enough to earn him a UFC contract.
Over the next stretch, Lopes won five consecutive bouts, including three finishes, building momentum that eventually carried him to a vacant featherweight title matchup against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314. Volkanovski won by decision, then defended the belt again against Lopes in a rematch at UFC 325 the following February.
With that title campaign now on hold, Lopes is redirecting his focus toward the mats. Entering the IBJJF Master Worlds in the gi represents a genuine test, and with 32 competitors in his division, the draw will not be thin.
Whether his black belt translates into results in this format remains the open question. For those who follow both MMA and grappling, his appearance at Master Worlds makes it one of the more compelling competitions to follow this year.
