Kicking off the historic UFC Freedom 250 card at the White House on Sunday was a featherweight showdown between Diego Lopes and Steve Garcia.
Lopes, who in a unique twist weighed in twice for the White House card, once for his fight and once as a backup, a weight class above, for the night’s main event, was representing his native Brazil and adopted Mexico in the bout.
“Mean Machine” Garcia, meanwhile, was fighting at home in the U.S., and while his profile might not be as high as the former title challenger, he had become known for very entertaining scraps.
Both fighters met in the center of the cage with Garcia as the initial aggressor. Lopes circled away to the fence as Garcia landed a few low leg kicks early. Garcia continued with forward pressure making Lopes fight defensively off the back foot. A solid straight left hand landed from Garcia who may have stole the opening round from Lopes.
To start the second round, Garcia utilized a solid jab again forcing Lopes to retreat to the fence. Lopes ran into a straight left hand from Garcia that rocked him momentarily. Lopes landed a solid right hand of his own and stunned Garcia. Sensing his opponent was hurt, Lopes pounced on the opportunity throwing caution to the wind, with wild hooks connecting. A left hook on the inside dropped Garcia and Lopes followed it up with massive ground and pound. Veteran referee Mike Beltran called a stop to the fight moments later, the result announced as a KO. After controlling the fight for its entirety, Garcia slipped up momentarily and paid for it.
This was another massive win for Lopes who entered the contest as the #2 ranked fighter in the division. Having lost twice to champ Alexander Volkanovski, however, his road back to the title could be a lengthy one.
Official Result: Diego Lopes def. Steve Garcia by KO, Round 2, 2:42
