Jean Silva has had a lot to say about Diego Lopes in the buildup to their main event bout next month.
Silva, who was born and fights out of Brazil, has been questioning Lopes’ national identity, stating that he plans on beating up “on a guy that doesn’t know if he’s Mexican or Brazilian” ahead of Noche UFC on Sept. 13 in San Antonio. Lopes was born in Manaus, Brazil, but has been living and fighting out of Puebla, Mexico for a decade. He walks out with both the Mexican and Brazilian flags for his UFC fights and been very vocal about his love for Mexico, and feeling identified with the country.
While many fans have embraced Lopes (27-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) as a representative for both Mexico and Brazil, Silva (16-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) has taken issue with that.
“I find that very silly,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish reacting to Silva’s comments. “Apart from it all, we’re in a sport that’s global. If we were in the Olympics, where you have to literally represent your country, OK, fine. But that’s not the case in MMA. Believe me: I’ve been hearing this nonsense for so many years from people like, ‘Oh, he’s not Mexican. He’s not Brazilian.’ I’ve heard it from both sides, from Hispanic people to Brazilians. It’s all good. I don’t care. I know the people who support me and that are with me. I remember the people who were with me when I literally had nothing. I let people talk. One thing is certain, though: The day of the fight I will walk out with the flag of Brazil and Mexico – whether they like it or not. It’s that simple.”
Lopes – who fought for the UFC featherweight title this past April, losing to Alexander Volkanovski – is not paying much mind to Silva’s comments. Not only has he heard them before from fellow UFC contender Yair Rodriguez, but he’s also not interested in engaging in online beefs.
“I don’t like to be talking on the internet. I did with ‘El Pantera (Rodriguez),’ but he looked for it, and then he didn’t want to fight,” Lopes said. “Jean Silva is talking bad about me, and that’s fine. He’s trying a lot of things, and even saying that I disrespected him, but to this day, I’m still trying to understand when I disrespected him. I saw an interview come out where he was like, ‘Oh, no. I think maybe I got things confused, and this is all childish, but I’m going to break him anyway.’ that’s fine if he wants to sell the fight that way. It doesn’t affect me in any way.”
