Matthew Lopez (fighter)

Matthew Lopez  (born December 12, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Background
Lopez was born in Safford, Arizona, United States. Lopez's father was the kid wrestling coach at Safford and he started training wrestling when he was young. He was a four time state champion wrestler at Sunnyside High School. He competed in wrestling in college at Arizona State University and Cal State Fullerton. After his collegiate wrestling career was over, he moved to MMA after seeing some of the wrestlers did well in MMA competitions.

Early career
Lopez competed most of his fights in King of the Cage (KOTC) and Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) MMA promotions prior joining UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
On Dana White's Looking for a Fight (Season 1 Ep.6) web series show at Sioux Falls, White was impressed with Lopez's performance and signed Lopez into UFC.

Lopez made his promotional debut against Rani Yahya on July 13, 2016, at UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs. Lineker. He lost the fight via submission (arm-triangle choke) in the third round.

On his second appearance in UFC, Lopez faced Mitch Gagnon on December 10, 2016, at UFC 206. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

On June 3, 2017, Lopez faced Johnny Eduardo at UFC 212. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. In the post fight interview, Lopez thought referee Mario Yamasaki was biased and believed Yamasaki should have stopped the fight much earlier.

Lopez faced Raphael Assunção on November 11, 2017, at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis. At the weigh-ins, Lopez missed weight, weighing in at 138.5 lbs., two and a half pounds over the bantamweight limit. As a result, he forfeited 20% of his purse to Assunção and the bout proceeded at a catchweight. He lost the fight via knockout in the third round.

Lopez faced Alejandro Pérez on April 14, 2018, at UFC on Fox 29. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Lopez faced Brad Katona on December 8, 2018, at UFC 231. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

On March 19, 2020, it was reported that Lopez was no longer part of the UFC's roster.

Personal life
The journey from wrestling to fighting in UFC was a tough one. Lopez was broke during his college years and forced to stay in a house without water and electricity for some time as he could not afford to pay the rent.