With recent move to Gracie PAC MMA, Brandon Lopez promising new tricks at CFFC 130
Lopez says late opponent switch no issue ahead of Friday's event in Florida.
With six previous appearances under the CFFC banner, Brandon Lopez is a bit of a proven commodity in the organization. That said, the Florida native believes he's bringing a new version of himself to the cage on Friday night after working under the guidance of UFC featherweight Billy Quarantillo, as well as placing a newfound focus on refining his striking skills.
"This camp, I kind of switched up my gyms again," Lopez said. "I'm training with Billy Q. He just opened up a gym over here, kind of by where I live, so yeah, I've been training with him and his guys. I think he has like six guys on this upcoming card with his amateurs and pros, so, you know, I've been training with Will Rentz and all those guys from Gracie Tampa. Hugh Pulley. So, I've definitely been getting stronger with those guys.
"Then I took some time and got a private boxing coach, one of the top coaches in Tampa. I started doing one-on-ones with him just to get my hands right. You know, me being a wrestler and high-end grappling, that's like my strong suit, so I always wanted to upgrade my standup skills, so I've just kind of been going pretty hard on the boxing with this coach, so looking forward to showing another side of me besides the wrestling and the grappling."
Of course, the skillset Lopez already owned has proven pretty successful thus far. Standing at 3-1 in his past four appearances for CFFC, Lopez was bringing himself into title contention prior to a decision loss this past July to Julio Cesar Chaves. In retrospect, it's a fight Lopez perhaps should have never taken, but he refuses to let himself consider such an option.
"The Julio Cesar fight, that was a rough end to the camp for me," Lopez recalled. "I got some staph, and I got really sick, but I stayed with the fight, so my conditioning was pretty bad. I definitely wanted to rebound after that loss because I was coming off of a two-fight win streak, so I was looking for that three-fight win streak because that's usually when you can call for the title shot, stuff like that.
"That minor setback, it hit me hard, but I just trained extra hard, came back in October, and to put another win in the win column was really good."
Lopez (7-6) now looks to continue those winning ways when he returns to the cage at Friday's CFFC 130 from the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. There, Lopez faces another replacement opponent in Rogelio Melgoza (5-5) in a featured preliminary bout that streams live on OnlyFans prior to the evening's main card on UFC FIGHT PASS.
It's not the fight Lopez was originally expecting, but that's become a bit of a standard routine for him as of late.
"It is frustrating; I'm not going to lie," Lopez said. "Like, we try to cater camp to a certain opponent, but literally six of my opponents in my past six fights, they dropped out. If it wasn't three weeks, then it was the week before, two weeks before. At this point at the regional pro scene, that's kind of what I expect, because it's just that's been my luck, so that's where you've just got to be ready for everything.
"You've got to be ready for anything and everything. Just be well-rounded because you could train for two months for one guy, and then he backs out last minute. Now you've got a guy that's a southpaw and you were training for orthodox, so it's, you know, I really am used to it, unfortunately, but again, it kind of makes me stronger."
Regardless of the opponent on the other side of the cage, the mission remains the same, and Lopez believes the tools he's picking up in his new training home will pay immediate dividends on Friday night.
"I've been hitting it hard for about a month now, going to Billy's gym and just grinding with those other guys that are fighting on the same card," Lopez said. "When you're fighting, and you're training with guys that have the same mentality as you, it just kind of like builds everybody up in the room vs. sometimes, you know, you're training with some guys that aren't in camp necessarily, so they might not be going as hard, and the mentality is a little different. This one, everybody's kind of looking forward to this date, so it's pretty awesome to have like six guys in the rooms literally fighting on the same card as you."
One thing that is certain by his previous performances, Lopez will bring it from the opening bell. The Florida native has proven himself to be an entertaining fixture at CFFC's events in the Sunshine State, and he doesn't expect that to change. But outside of that, he says to be ready for some new wrinkles.
"I'm expecting a standup fighter, and like I said, we've been working on the boxing, so it might just end up helping me out in my wheelhouse," Lopez said. "I don't want to give too much away, but I'm ready for everything. I'm a pro, so whatever he's got, you better be bringing some A-game, because I've got some tricks up my sleeve for this fight.
"The goal at the end of the day is to get a win. Obviously, I always want to try to get that highlight-reel finish, but you know I don't want to get sloppy and just go for that and give up something to my opponents. I definitely want to be calculated, but you know if the finish is there in a spectacular form, I'm always definitely trying to get that."
