Diego Lopes explains why he picks Max Holloway to beat Ilia Topuria at UFC 308

Diego Lopes is hoping to put his name in the conversation for a shot at the featherweight title with a win in the historic UFC 306 fight at The Sphere in Las Vegas this Saturday night, and he wouldn't be surprised to see Max Holloway standing cageside that day.

Lopes faces former title challenger Brian Ortega this weekend looking to extend his winning streak to five since joining the promotion, including three wins and two performance bonuses. He'll be looking to sit cageside at UFC 308, which takes place on October 26 in Abu Dhabi, and witness a potential change at the top of the weight class.

Holloway, who once held the 145-pound crown with victories over the legendary Jose Aldo, earned another shot at gold with an epic knockout of Justin Gaethje for the BMF title in April. “Blessed” will challenge Ilia Topuria, who dismantled Holloway's former nemesis Alexander Volkanovski in devastating fashion to win the championship in February and improve his record in the sport to 15-0.

“This fight is very interesting,” Lopes said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “Holloway has fought everyone in the division – and even moved up because there was no one left for him. This fight against Topuria will be very interesting because Topuria represents fresh blood in the division, a new guy who can knock out anyone.”

“My focus is to win my fight against Ortega and tell my manager that we are going to Abu Dhabi on October 26th to watch that fight there. We already have that in mind, but the main focus is to win my next fight and then see what the next step is.”

Lopes has previously said he plans to beat Ortega “emphatically” to “move myself up the rankings” and ensure a title shot “isn't that far away.” When asked who wins at UFC 308, the 29-year-old Brazilian said he expects experience to prevail over power and youth. Holloway won his last three fights against Arnol Allen, Shan Sung Jung and Gaethje, and Topuria has a 7-0 record in the UFC against the likes of Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell and Ryan Hall.

“It's a very close fight,” Lopes said. “I'm leaning a little towards Holloway because of his experience. He's fought a lot of different opponents in the division. He's fought Volkanovski, Jose Aldo and Jeremy Stephens, small guys with a lot of knockout power, and nobody could [knock him out]. We'll see what happens, but I think I'm a little bit on Max Holloway's side.”