Alexander Volkanovski’s coach not excited about Diego Lopes rematch: ‘We just beat him’

Alexander Volkanovski is set to defend his featherweight title against Diego Lopes … again.

The two just fought back in April 2025, with Volk taking a definitive unanimous decision win over Lopes. But they’re gonna do it again in Sydney, Australia on January 31st, 2026 for UFC 325, and there’s a lot of people scratching their heads over the decision, including Volkanovski’s coach Joe Lopez.

“I guess it was a bit of a shock to everybody,” Lopez told Submission Radio following the announcement. “No disrespect to Diego because I think he’s a great fighter, but we just beat him.”

Lopez believes the 19-0 Movsar Evloev — whose last three wins are over Diego Lopez, Arnold Allen, and Aljamain Sterling — deserved the shot, or 17-0-1 Lerone Murphy — who beat Dan Ige, Josh Emmett, and Aaron Pico.

“Movsar and Murphy, on paper, are probably more deserving of that title shot,” he said. “But we don’t call the shots. That’s up to the UFC, and they’ve given us Diego. So that’s the card they’ve given us, and that’s the one we gotta play.”

According to Lopez, Volkanovski was all set to fight in December, before Lopes’ win over Jean Silva at Noche UFC 2025 changed everything.

“I’d say a week or two after Diego’s fight, they put that on the table to us,” Volk’s coach said. “Because initially we were gonna be fighting in December, we were gonna headline this December card, and we were all set for that … [but] they wanted Lopez, and I don’t think Lopez was gonna be ready in December.”

“It’s always been a bit of a popularity contest, who’s the most popular,” Lopes admitted. “Whether it’s the Paramount deal, I don’t know. There’s been a lot of negotiations behind the scenes. But at the end of the day, they’re the ones calling the shots.”

“I know the fans are not happy. A couple of the boys have been telling me about the comments. They’re not very favorable. And no disrespect to Diego, but like I said, when your last fight you beat him and it wasn’t like it was a close fight, it was very one-sided. Why not give Murphy or Movsar a go? That’s my opinion anyway.”