Diego Lopes and Steve Garcia meet at in the opening bout of UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday at the White House in Washington DC. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
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Last event’s results: 2-3
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UFC main cards, 2026: 55-33-1
Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia UFC Freedom 250 preview
Lopes (27-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC) enters on the heels of a second title shot loss in a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 325. In the fight prior, he stopped Jean Silva in the second round at Noche UFC to bounce back from his first title opportunity loss against Volkanovski.
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Garcia (19-5 MMA, 8-2 UFC) is running hot on a seven-fight winning streak. His most recent outing was his first UFC main event, where he stopped David Onama in the first round.
Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia UFC Freedom 250 expert pick, prediction
Kicking off UFC Freedom 250 in proper fashion is a featherweight action fight between Diego Lopes and Steve Garcia that would make Joe Silva proud.
Garcia, who was my Under the Radar Fighter of the Year for 2024 for MMA Junkie, has proven myself and his supporters right with this seven-fight winning streak he’s amassed.
Garcia is a solid southpaw striker who will definitely have the edge while this fight is on the feet, but I can’t help but wonder what the current state of the American’s previous pitfalls on the floor will look like opposite a talent like Lopes.
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Lopes may not be as willing a grappler as you’d like him to be, but the 31-year-old has spent his last few camps stateside training at the renowned Oklahoma State University wrestling rooms, so perhaps this is the matchup where he leans heavily upon those skills.
Part of me will be rooting for Garcia to continue this run, but the official pick is for Lopes’ durability and opportunistic skills to, once again, bail him out of trouble with a submission in Round 1.
Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia UFC Freedom 250 odds
The oddsmakers and the public slightly favor the Brazilian-born fighter, listing Lopes -160 and Garcia +130 via FanDuel.
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Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia UFC Freedom 250 start time, how to watch
As the first fight of the night, Lopes and Garcia are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 8:10 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on Paramount+.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Freedom 250: Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia prediction, pick, time
