Diego Lopes‘s first UFC fight took place in May 2023. He went against Movsar Evloev but lost via a unanimous decision. But since then, he has been looking to avenge his loss. He called out Evloev several times, who didn’t see the point in yet another fight. Lopes moved on and featured in five fights, whereas Evloev was seen in only one. The latter’s UFC 307 matchup against Aljamain Sterling, the former champ, was going to be huge. But!

Sterling pulled out due to an injury while sparring, and this put the UFC 307 main card in jeopardy. The UFC needs to find a replacement, but it is going to be on very short notice. And that’s when Evloev remembered Lopes. But now the tables have turned! The Brazilian doesn’t care about a rematch.

This led to a back-and-forth between the two fighters, but Lopes’s latest tweet explains why he doesn’t want to fight Evloev. He wrote, “Brother, since my first victory in the UFC, I called you to fight. You could make excuses that you were above me in the rankings. Since our fight, I have 5 victories. While you have only fought once. You were lower in the rankings. Not to mention that you have not finished anyone.”

Well, he isn’t wrong. Here are the current rankings of the three fighters in question:

• Diego Lopes: #3
• Movsar Evloev: #6
• Aljamain Sterling: #9

Additionally, when Lopes and Evloev fought at UFC 288, it was already a short-notice fight for the former. So he might now want to take another fight with just a few weeks left for the event. Let us also not forget that the Brazilian just fought Brian Ortega at UFC 306 this month. Not only would the Evloev fight be on short notice, but he wouldn’t have the time to recover, too.

Now all of this puts the UFC and Dana White in trouble. MMA fans will have to wait and watch which featherweight fighter saves the event. But what exactly happened to Aljo?

Aljamain Sterling had to pull out after no solution worked…

The much-awaited featherweight fight is no longer on the upcoming UFC schedule. Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing from his fight against Movsar Evloev due to injury. UFC 307 scheduled the three-round bout for Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Taking to his YouTube channel, the former champion explained, “In sparring, I had an injury, not requiring surgery, but I was advised by the UFC medical staff that I will not be able to properly compete in this short of a turnaround. I did stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I could and as best I could with the [UFC Performance Institute]. Unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now.”

While he didn’t specify the injury, he shared a clip of his training where his training partner, Jeremy Kennedy, appeared to twist his arm with a kimura attempt from below. So it could potentially be a shoulder or an elbow injury. Additionally, the fighter apologized to Evloev and his team for the last-minute issue.

Aljamain Sterling’s injury has dulled his own climb to the top. Had he successfully defeated his opponent, he could have climbed the rankings further and fought for the belt. With him out, it is not clear if Evloev will remain on the card now that even Lopes has refused the fight.

Will Dana White be able to save the card? Let us know in the comments.