Jon Jones will “more than likely” retire after his UFC 309 clash with Stipe Miocic on Nov. 16, and the UFC was close to signing another “Jon Jones” through Dana White’s Contender Series.

Arthur Lopes battles fellow Brazilian heavyweight Tallison Teixeira on Tuesday’s DWCS card at the UFC APEX looking for a contract with the organization, and he was nicknamed “Jon Jones” when called for the opportunity. Lopes, however, decided to change his nickname to “Demolidor” before flying to Las Vegas.

“That was my nickname because our fighting style was kind of similar, and I looked like him at the time, so people started calling me Jon Jones,” Lopes said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I hated it at first [laughs], I won’t lie to you, but people liked it, so there was no escape.”

Lopes is 6-1 as a professional with all wins coming by stoppage, with five knockouts and one DQ, and chose to get rid of the nickname to make a name for himself inside the octagon.

“There’s already a Jon Jones, and we don’t need to continue someone else’s story,” Lopes said. “Let’s write a new story, something different, so here comes ‘Demolidor.’ We’ll make history, and you’ll all hear about this name for a long time. God willing, I want to build a career better than his. I want to be the best, always. I don’t want to be like him. I want to be fun, athletic, and do new things.”

Lopes started his career back in 2015, and won four of five fights in just over a year, and then returned in 2018 to collect another pair of finishes before leaving the sport for good. Lopes only returned in March 2024, knocking out Daniel Bucher in just 20 seconds to earn a shot at DWCS.

“I stayed out for a long time but decided on Jan. 1st that I would become an athlete again,” said Lopes, who worked as a car mechanic while fighting in MMA. “I worked hard for six months and came out victorious to get this opportunity on the Contender. It’s great to see that I still have wood to burn and live my dream.”

“It’s hard to live as an athlete in Brazil,” he continued. “Sometimes you even have to pay to fight because the purse is so low it doesn’t cover your costs. I’m a father of four and it was hard to pay the bills with no sponsors or support. I wasn’t paid for my last fight [in 2018] so I just quit fighting. But I guess God heard one of my prayers of wanting something better, so I decided to come back.”

Lopes quit his job as car mechanic to focus on his fighting career ahead of DWCS and moved from Uberlandia to Tres Rios to train at ATS, and sees heavier, bigger and undefeated Teixeira as a tough but beatable foe.

“[His size] makes no difference to me,” Lopes said. “I wanna see if he’s all that. I think he talks to much. Too cocky. Let’s end that [tonight]. I’d rather not fight a Brazilian, but it’s the opportunity I have, so I will walk through anyone to earn my spot in the UFC. … I want to win by knockout, but I’m a black belt in luta livre, and we’ll fight wherever we need to win this. I’m ready for everything.”