The Ultimate Fighting Championship has witnessed many fighters coming from poverty, only to become some of the most celebrated fighters in the world. Take a look at Conor McGregor. The former UFC double champion came from a life of scarcity. But his fame in the UFC turned him into one of the richest athletes who went on to be featured by Forbes. While Diego Lopes hasn’t reached McGregor’s level, he still has an inspirational story of rags to riches. 

Today, let’s take a look at the financial status of the Brazilian featherweight contender and learn how much his current net worth is. After all, he might just become the next featherweight champion, and that means he’ll be making those big boy paychecks. 

How much is the net worth of Diego Lopes in 2025?

The exact numbers for Lopes’ net worth are a mystery. However, there are several reports that have estimated the Brazilian fighter’s net worth to be somewhere between half a million to a million dollars. Of course, with the kind of performance he has shown in recent times, the UFC awarded him with some lucrative paychecks. But that doesn’t mean that the #3 featherweight contender doesn’t have other sources of income. 

Away from the Octagon, Lopes is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor at the Lobo Gym. And yes, he has even trained and cornered the former UFC flyweight champion, Alexa Grasso. But the amount of money that the Brazilian receives for his training sessions is unknown. But before that, when he came to Mexico, Lopes had to endure quite a bit of financial struggle. 

Back when Lopes and his brother, Thiago Freitas, began their fighting careers, they left their hometown and traveled to Sao Paulo. Therein, they joined Revira Black Team. Since they had no money back then, Coach Vinicius Reviravolta convinced a nearby school to give them a place to stay and eat. However, the change that they saved wasn’t enough to pay the rent, so they had to sleep in the gym. But eventually, the coach moved his gym, leaving Lopes without a place to live. Soon, he got himself hired by a gym in Playa Del Carmen to teach BJJ. But things came to an abrupt end. Partnering with Alessandro Costa, Lopes decided to start his own gym. But even that venture went bankrupt.

Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lopes won and defended his championship title at LUX Fight League. Despite running low on money, he was determined to succeed. Talking to MMA Fighting Lopes revealed, “I didn’t want to go back to Manaus, I didn’t want to go back to Sao Paulo, I didn’t want to go back to Brazil. I knew that there were many opportunities for me here. When there was nothing for us to eat, we would buy cheap bread and save it for the week. We worked as night club bouncers, we worked as waiters, we worked as gardeners. We went everywhere no matter how much we’d be paid. We had nothing to eat and no money to buy anything.”

Thankfully, in 2021, the Brazilian got a chance to show his skills at DWCS. A loss pushed him away from a UFC contract. But soon, his performance at Fury FC and LUX Fight League put him back on Dana White’s radar. The bossman gave Lopes a chance to fight Movsar Evloev on short notice at UFC 288, and even though he lost his debut, Lopes impressed the world. More importantly, he impressed White. Here was a hungry contender who took a fight against a top-ranked title prospect on short notice, pushed him to the limits, and was disappointed in his performance because he did not win. His ‘dream believe and make it happen tattoo’ and his hairstyle were the stuff of memes before the fight, but Fight Night showed he was the real deal. He went on to fight 5 more fights and won all of them. No wonder, White was compelled to give him a title shot now. But how much did the featherweight contender earn from his UFC fights?

Diego Lopes’ salary and bonuses in UFC

Lopes began his UFC journey with a base salary of $12K and sponsorships worth $4K. But claiming the $50K worth Fight of the Night bonus got him a sum of $66K at UFC 288. He then went on to fight Gavin Tucker and won via a round-one submission. He got $16K for showing up, and another $16K for the win. This fight got him the Performance of the Night bonus, and he thickened his wallet by an additional $50K. At UFC 300, Lopes defeated Sodiq Yusuff with a KO in round 1, and before that, he KOed Pat Sabatini in the first round. Both of these fights got him Performance of the Night bonuses. 

The UFC knew how strong Lopes was, and got him a fight against Brian Ortega at UFC 303. But Ortega got sick and Dan Ige rushed in to save the day. Yet, Lopes was the one who won via a unanimous decision and earned a base pay of $48K. He fought Ortega at UFC 306 and won with the judges’ decision. He received a paycheck of $75K for showing up for the fight. 

Now, the Brazilian is set to fight for the featherweight championship belt against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314. And like most of the title challengers, we can expect Lopes to receive a base salary of $500K for showing up at UFC 314. In case he wins, he’d receive the win bonus, $42K from brand endorsements, and maybe, a performance bonus. But we’d have to wait till Saturday night to watch that happen. 

How much do you think the Brazilian featherweight star can earn at UFC 314? Will it be his highest payday in the fight promotion? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.