Diego Lopes almost broke his opponent’s arm in gruesome submission to record his first UFC win

Diego Lopes needed 98 seconds to submit Gavin Tucker with a brutal armbar

Lopes debuted against Movsar Evloev in May 2023, facing the undefeated Russian at UFC 288 on just five days’ notice as a replacement for the injured Bryce Mitchell.

Despite being a significant underdog, the Brazilian made things competitive and threatened to pull off an almighty upset at numerous points in the bout. That result announced Lopes’ arrival, but it was his next fight just three months later that really put him on the map.

At the UFC Fight Night in Nashville, headlined by Cory Sandhagen’s five-round win over Rob Font, Lopes delivered a bonus-worthy performance to enter the win column in the organization for the first time.

His main card fight against Gavin Tucker was over in just 98 seconds after Lopes jumped into a hard-to-watch triangle-armbar on the ground.

As Lopes looked set to badly injure the arm, the pair rolled over, with the Brazilian ending up in mount. It was during that position switch that Tucker tapped in a frantic bid to save his limb from serious damage.

Diego Lopes has not won a UFC fight via submission since then

While Lopes entered the UFC known as the jiu-jitsu coach for notable fighters like Alexa Grasso, the 30-year-old has just one victory by way of submission inside the Octagon.

Following his finish against Tucker in 2023, the fan favorite recorded four more wins before running into Alexander Volkanovski. After Pat Sabatini fell via strikes to the fast-charging prospect, Lopes knocked out Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 300.

A step up in competition put a pause to Lopes’ finishing ways, as he reeled off decisions over Dan Ige and Brian Ortega to stake his claim for a first featherweight title shot.

After Lopes fell short of the championship against Volkanovski this past April, he’ll look to get back on track by handing Silva his first UFC loss in Saturday’s main event at Frost Bank Center.