UFC 300 Strive against Card Preview: Sodiq Yusuff Vs. Diego Lopes

Digital Author April 3, 2024

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Diego Lopes meets Sodiq Yusuff on the UFC 300 fight card prelims. (List by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC … [+] by the exhaust of Getty Photography)

Zuffa LLC by the exhaust of Getty Photography

With the UFC 300 card taking space at T-Cell Arena in Las Vegas on April 13, we are wanting at every fight the UFC has booked for the historic event. Recently’s focal level is on the first fight of the ESPN prelims, a battle between the pinnacle-15 ranked Sodiq Yusuff and the rapid-rising Diego Lopes. That fight takes space within the featherweight division.

UFC 300 takes space at T-Cell Arena in Las Vegas on April 13. The stacked card substances two UFC title fights and a BMF title bout on the ESPN+ pay-per-look a part of the event.

Careers

Sodiq Yusuff

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

In 2023, Yusuff and Edson Barboza battled within the necessary event of a UFC Strive against Evening card on the UFC Apex. Yusuff, who used to be ranked No. 11 within the 145-pound weight class, entered the competition as a -170 making a bet authorized over his feeble opponent, who came in at +140. The fight earned every man a $50,0000 “Strive against of the Evening” bonus, but it used to be Barboza who had his hand raised on the discontinue of the five-spherical battle with a unanimous decision victory.

The 30-yr-venerable Yusuff has a 6-2 UFC file. Over the route of his career, he has won six fights by knockout, one by submission, and six by decision. His losses gain catch knockout (one) and decision (two).

Diego Lopes

Diego Lopes used to be 19-3 when he fought on the Dana White Contender Sequence in 2021. He lost that fight by the exhaust of technical decision and fought on a Fury FC fight card two months later. Lopes also fell short in that contest, losing a split decision. He rebounded in 2022 with support-to-support knockout wins.

The UFC then picked up the phone and gave Lopes a short-peep different to substitute Bryce Mitchell in a Might 2023 matchup against feeble M-1 World bantamweight titleholder Movsar Evloev, who used to be 6-0 within the UFC on the time. Evloev, who is now the No. 5 fighter at featherweight and 18-0 in his career, defeated Lopes by decision.

Lopes bounced support from that loss in a wide come. He is currently on a two-fight winning paddle with a submission expend over Gavin Tucker and a November 2023 knockout overcome Pat Sabatini.

The 29-yr-venerable Lopes is 2-1 within the UFC. Over the route of his MMA career, Lopes has picked up nine KO wins, 12 submission victories, and two decision nods. His career losses gain catch knockout (two) and decision (four).

UFC 300 Making a bet Odds for Yusuff vs. Lopes

Lopes opened as a -180 making a bet authorized in early March, but as of this writing he’s currently at -133 with many of the go coming within the previous few days. As for Yusuff, he opened as a +140 making a bet underdog, and currently sits at +104.

Vital Stats

Yusuff is aggressive in his inserting, with an moderate of 5.72 necessary strikes landed per minute. His accuracy is 49 p.c. As for defense, Yusuff absorbs 4.33 necessary strikes per minute with a defense of 54 p.c. He averages 0.28 takedowns per 15 minutes and succeeds on 20 p.c of his takedown makes an attempt. Yusuff has a takedown defense of 62 p.c, 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 inserting, touchdown 2.47 necessary strikes per minute. On the opposite hand, he’s extra correct than Yusuff at 53 p.c. Lopes absorbs a fairly high 4.91 necessary strikes per minute, with a 37 p.c defense. Lopes has no longer landed a UFC takedown, but his takedown defense is 42 p.c, and his submission rate per 15 minutes is 5.3.

What to Ask

The UFC and its fans are fickle, and the matchmaking on this bout feels esteem the winner will ranking greater and better opportunities. At the identical time, the loser will tumble within the featherweight pecking yell and can merely nonetheless change into an athlete who gets matched up against the following batch of up-and-coming 145-pound competitors.

UFC CEO Dana White expects UFC 300 to rupture “every file on the T-Cell Arena.”