Watching Diego Lopes dominate Brian Ortega gave Dan Ige a better gauge of where he stands in the UFC featherweight division.
Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) battered former title challenger Ortega this past Saturday at UFC 306 to emerge as a title contender. Prior to that, Lopes was tested in a unanimous decision win over Ige, who stepped in on just hours’ notice at UFC 303 in June.
“I thought he made it look easy,” Ige told Middle Easy on Lopes’ win over Ortega. “Nothing’s easy, but the way he went out there, he hurt Brian early. Anyone could say, ‘Yeah, he could’ve finished him,’ but he took a risk. I think he wanted to make a point. I think he wanted to try to submit him just to prove a point.
“But that cost him and then he had to go through a three-round fight. But, for the most part, he dominated. He looked really good in every aspect of the standup and the grappling, and, yeah, he’s a hard hitter, man. I felt his power when I was in there with him.”
Ige (18-8 MMA, 10-7 UFC) will look to rebound when he meets undefeated rising contender Lerone Murphy (14-0-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC) Oct. 26 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. Although he’s coming off a loss to Lopes, he takes solace in knowing he can compete well with the top contenders in the division.
“But if anything, it just gives me more confidence,” Ige said of Lopes. “He’s No. 3 now and to be able to fight a guy like that on short notice, literally three hours’ notice and not actually game plan for someone like that and still have moments in the fight, it just gives me confidence in anything else.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
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