DIEGO LOPES was snapped with two swollen feet after breaking BOTH of them in his defeat to Alexander Volkanovski.
Brazilian MMA star Lopes, 31, was attempting to avenge his loss to Volkanovski after they fought for the then-vacant UFC featherweight title last April.
But on Saturday night, as in the first fight, a unanimous decision went the way of Volkanovski, and Lopes was left licking his wounds.
Not that you could tell from the picture of him shared to social media after the fight.
Lopes was grinning like a Cheshire cat as he sat in hospital with whopping great lumps on the top of both feet.
The photo, posted by his manager Jason House, was captioned: “Looks like we broke both feet.
“Some nights you’re at the afterparty, some nights you’re at the ER.
“But every morning I give thanks for the opportunity to live this life with my best friends.”
Lopes landed a body kick midway through the fight and was clearly in discomfort from that point on.
After losing his second UFC title shot, Lopes’ MMA record fell to 27-8.
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He told Daniel Cormier: “I think Volkanovski is one of the best guys ever in the division. He made a lot of things [happen] in there, round by round.”
Volkanovski is no spring chicken at 38, and some felt his career was on the decline when he lost his featherweight title to Ilia Topuria in 2024.
But the Aussie made it clear after Saturday’s win that he’s still as hungry and capable as ever.
He said: “It ain’t getting any easier, I can tell you that. The beauty is, as I always say, adversity is a privilege.
“Man, I wanted to take him out, I wanted to grab a hold of him and put him down, but he was strong.
“And I did not want to stand with him for 25 minutes if I am going to be honest. But we got the job done.”
