The great thing about UFC’s Embedded Vlog Series and Countdown videos is that we, as MMA enthusiasts, get to know lesser-known or unknown facts about our favorite fighters. The recent UFC 314‘s Countdown video gave us yet another look at the journey of Diego Lopes, who’s preparing for his first world title fight next weekend. Having reached a stage where he’s considered one of the world’s best, the Brazilian 145lbs star surprisingly claimed that mixed martial arts was never his choice of career.

Given how deeply ingrained jiu-jitsu is in his native Brazil, it’s no surprise that nearly every member of Lopes’ family holds a high-level rank in the martial art. His father, brother, sister, and Lopes himself are all black belts, while his uncle holds the rare and prestigious coral belt. Yet, despite growing up surrounded by elite practitioners, Lopes never seriously considered a career in MMA—at least not until about 15 years ago. It was then that his brother, already a professional fighter, unexpectedly set him up for a pro debut, thrusting him into the world of MMA almost by surprise.

“I didn’t plan on competing in MMA. My brother was already fighting. He was already a professional,'” Diego Lopes revealed in the recently released UFC 314 Countdown video. “One day, I was at home. I was on the computer. My brother comes up to me and tells me, ‘You’re going to fight in a month.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s fine. It’s jiu-jitsu, right?’ And he said, ‘No, it’s an MMA fight.'”

Hearing that it was a mixed martial arts bout, Diego Lopes was left perplexed and seemed a bit worried. Before his brother told him about that fight, the Brazilian star didn’t even have a modicum of training in the sport. But his brother eased the tension by assuring him that his BJJ background would help him handle things well inside the cage. As such, Lopes went on to fight in his first MMA fight a couple of months before he turned eighteen years old.

“I said, ‘How am I going to fight if I never prepared for it?’ And he said, ‘Don’t worry, you know jiu-jitsu, so there’s not a problem. You can fight.’ It was like, ‘Grab your s— and go.’ I was 17 years old,” Diego Lopes added. “I was 17 years old. I started MMA in 2012. I didn’t have an amateur career. I went straight to professional.” Guess what? Lopes went out there and won!

Well, Lopes’ brother’s attempt paid off since he’s now at the upper echelon of the MMA world. The UFC! He admitted that things have turned out fine for him, and fans would agree that it has. Being one of the most exciting fighters on the entire roster, he’s earned a lot of praise for his striking skills. But ahead of his title fight, there were questions raised about the one weakness he could have. In return, Lopes issued a response as well.

Diego Lopes issues response to criticisms about his gas tank ahead of UFC 314

Some fighters, like Merab Dvalishvili, have gained fame among fans for their exceptional cardio capacity, and Alexander Volkanovski falls in that category as well. The Australian star has fought multiple five-round bouts and has shown to dominate his opponents and put up a good fight till the closing stages of the whole 25 minutes. But as the saying goes about ‘Cardio being the king’, there are a lot of fans who’re heavily leaning towards Volkanovski to get the better of Diego Lopes at UFC 314.

The doubts surrounding Lopes’ gas tank started taking shape when he fought Dan Ige at UFC 303, who was the replacement for his initial opponent, Brian Ortega. By the time the fight ended, the Brazilian star looked absolutely spent. However, the Brazilian would respond by claiming that people should take a look at his fight against Ortega, whom he fought a few events later at UFC 306, and put up a great performance.

“People are still hanging on to what happened in the fight against Dan Ige, that I slowed down. But that’s OK. People have mouths, and they’ll say whatever they want,” the featherweight title contender told ‘Habelos MMA’ last month. “Why does nobody mention the knockdowns I did to Brian Ortega in the third round, and how I was doing in that third round? I won all three rounds, and I dominated that fight.”

Diego Lopes’ journey to becoming an MMA champion is almost 15 years long. Despite Alexander Volkanovski losing two fights on the trot, he’s still arguably the biggest challenge in the featherweight division. What do you think will happen in the main event of UFC 314? Drop your comments below.