Diego Lopes addresses his viral White House celebration photograph from UFC Freedom 250

Diego Lopes has put forth his reaction to the photograph of himself celebrating while on top of the octagon fence at the White House. The image has captivated a number of MMA fans, and Lopes himself also seemed to be awestruck by it. 

The Brazil-born Mexico-based combatant has lately been working on his wrestling in the United States of America, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, to be specific.

Lopes won the opening fight of the UFC Freedom 250 event, which transpired on the White House's South Lawn in Washington, D.C., on June 14.

He thereby earned the honor of being the first fighter to secure a victory in an MMA bout at one of the most historically significant places in America, the White House. 

Diego Lopes opens up about his iconic UFC Freedom 250 photo with the White House as the background

Diego Lopes took on Steve Garcia in a high-octane featherweight matchup that opened the fight card. After Garcia put on an impressive showing in round one, Lopes rallied and scored a devastating second-round KO victory over him. 

He celebrated by climbing on the octagon fence and posing while balancing on top, as the White House served as the backdrop of the now-iconic celebratory image he created. 

During his post-fight octagon interview with veteran UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, Lopes expressed his excitement about having notched a win at the special UFC White House event.

The 31-year-old also indicated that he'd step in as a replacement fighter for the main event lightweight title unifier between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje if either of them withdrew at the last minute. Lopes noted that he'd be at the fighter hotel just five minutes away. 

Moreover, during an interview with TNT Fight Sports' Caroline Pearce, he responded to his viral photo. 

Pearce showed him the photo and asserted that it'd gone viral. She also inquired whether it was the first time that he was seeing it.

Lopes responded by stating, "Yeah. This is crazy. But I told you for Fabiano, the trainer of the guy -- I say, 'I want to fight. I never do this. But I stay stand up in the cage.'" He added, "He say, 'Don't do that.' I do this. Like, I do." 

 

Watch Diego Lopes discuss the post-fight celebration photo below (*comments at the 3:27-minute mark of the video): 

Diego Lopes seeks to continue his title quest after winning at the UFC White House event

Elsewhere during his conversation with Caroline Pearce, Diego Lopes alluded to the fact that he's suffered a pair of unanimous decision defeats to reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. 

Currently standing at the No. 2 position in the official UFC featherweight rankings, Lopes signaled that he's willing to fight another top contender to earn his way back to a third shot at the UFC featherweight championship. He also opined that Volkanovski is likely to defend his title against Movsar Evloev next.