Latest news with #Lopes
Kyodo News
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Kyodo News
Football: Marinos' 2-time J1 top scorer Lopes leaving for Singapore
TOKYO - Anderson Lopes, the J-League first-division top scorer for the past two years, is leaving Yokohama F Marinos to join Lion City Sailors in Singapore, the J1 club announced Thursday. The 31-year-old Brazilian helped Marinos win the league title in his first season at the club in 2022 before bagging 22 and 24 goals in the following two seasons. The forward also played for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2016 and 2017 as well as Consadole Sapporo between 2019 and 2021 in Japan, scoring 101 goals in 221 games in the J1 in total. "It's been three and a half years since I joined Marinos and I'm filled with a sense of gratitude toward our fans and supporters," Lopes said on Marinos' website. "My feeling is it's not 'goodbye,' but 'see you again.'" "I'll always support Marinos and have them in my heart forever."
Straits Times
17-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Lion City Sailors score coup with two-time J1 League top scorer Anderson Lopes
Anderson Lopes, Lion City Sailors' new signing from Yokohama F. Marinos, at the Lion City Sailors training centre on July 15. SINGAPORE – The Lion City Sailors' unprecedented run to the AFC Champions League Two final in the 2024/25 campaign made clubs in the continent sit up and take notice. And ahead of the new season, Singapore's only privatised football club are not resting on their laurels. The Singapore Premier League and Singapore Cup champions on July 17 confirmed that they have signed Brazilian forward Anderson Lopes from five-time J1 League champions Yokohama F. Marinos on a three-year contract. While the Sailors did not disclose the transfer fee, The Straits Times understands that it is lower than the club's record fee of €1.8 million (S$2.69 million) that it paid to sign Brazilian midfielder Diego Lopes from Portuguese Primeira Liga side Rio Ave in 2021, and the reported €1.5 million fee to Dutch Eredivisie side Utrecht for attacking midfielder Bart Ramselaar. The signing of Lopes, 31, from the Marinos is a coup for the Sailors and Singapore football. Lopes had rejected interest from Brazilian giants Botafogo and clubs from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, ST understands. Lopes who primarily plays as a centre forward but can also operate as a second striker or as a winger, told ST that the ambitious project outlined by the Sailors' management, along with Singapore being an ideal place for him and his family played a key role in his decision. Lopes, who has two children – a five-year-old son and one-year-old daughter – with his wife said via a translator: 'When the proposal came, of course, I didn't know too much about Singapore, but I started to ask around about the country and then I realised it's a good place for the family. After speaking to the club as well (about their project), I decided this was the right move. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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He was then loaned out to South Korean team FC Seoul in 2018, before returning to Japanese football the following year after completing a permanent move to Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. In 2021, he signed for Chinese club Wuhan FC but returned to Japan a year later to sign for Marinos. Since joining Marinos in February 2022, Lopes had established himself as one of the best players in the Japanese top tier. In his first season, he scored 11 goals in the club's league winning season. In the following two seasons, Lopes would win consecutive top scorer awards in the J1League. In 2023, he was joint-top in the scoring charts with Japan international Yuya Osako with 22 goals before he netted 24 goals the following season to finish as top scorer. I n the current season, Lopes and his club have struggled amid some managerial changes. Marinos are bottom of the 20-team league, with the Brazilian finding the net only twice in 20 matches. But it is his prowess on the continental stage that Sailors will hope to reap rewards. In the 2023–24 AFC Champions League season, Lopes was top scorer for Marinos – six goals in 11 matches – as the Japanese side reached the final, where they were defeated by Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates. In the inaugural season of the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite, Lopes finished joint-second in the scoring charts with nine goals in 10 matches, sharing the spot with Al-Ahli winger Riyad Mahrez and Gwangju FC's Jasir Asani. Saudi Arabian captain Salem Al-Dawsari claimed the Golden Boot with 10 goals, but Lopes outscored several high-profile names including Al-Nassr's Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo (eight goals), Al-Hilal's Aleksandar Mitrovic, and Al-Ahli duo Ivan Toney and Roberto Firmino, who each scored six. Lopes arrives in Singapore with a clear ambition. 'I came here to score goals and win titles. I want to grow with the club, and make history together and help the club to do even better and better,' said the Brazilian. The signing of Anderson Lopes, 31, from the Marinos is a coup for the Sailors and Singapore football. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG Beyond that, Lopes vowed to put in relentless hard work. He credited this work ethic to his upbringing in the favela of Recife, Brazil, and the values instilled by his family. Football helped Lopes to purchase a flat for his family and build a future he once only dreamt of. That same drive and determination still remains. 'What they (fans) can expect from me is that I will give everything on the pitch, whether it is in training, the games, and I will score the goals to make everyone happy,' he added. Sailors head coach Aleksandar Rankovic, who recently inked a two-year contract extension with the club, will now have added ammunition in his front line, which already includes 2023 SPL Player of the Year Maxime Lestienne – who is contracted to the club till December – German forward Lennart Thy, Ramselaar and Lions hitman Shawal Anuar. Rankovic said: 'To reach 100 goals in a league as competitive as the J1 speaks volumes about his quality. But it's not just about his goalscoring. Anderson is excellent at holding the ball up and just as capable of creating chances for his teammates. I'm confident he'll be a tremendous asset to the team this season.' The Sailors have also bolstered their squad since they made a historic run to the ACL 2 final, where they lost 2-1 to Emirati side Sharjah FC in May. The Sailors are the first team from Singapore to feature in a continental final. National team stalwart Safuwan Baharudin has joined on a season-long loan from Selangor, they have added Croat custodian Ivan Susak from Croatian top-tier side Slaven Belupo, and beefed up the midfield with former German Under-20 player Tsiy-William Ndenge. The Sailors who are competing on four fronts again – the SPL, Singapore Cup, Asean Club Championship and ACL2 – and will kick off their season with the Singapore Community Shield match against BG Tampines Rovers on Aug 16.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Diego Lopes hopes for future clash vs. Yair Rodriguez: 'I will ask for that fight again'
Diego Lopes wants to eventually get his hands on Yair Rodriguez. After their viral heated confrontation at the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference in April, the UFC tried to book the two for the headliner of this year's Noche UFC – the promotion's annual celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Lopes (27-6 MMA, 6-1 UFC) was coming off a decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski in a championship bout for the vacant UFC featherweight belt, and Rodriguez (20-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) off a decision win over former Bellator champion Patricio Freire at UFC 314. Advertisement Unfortunately, the fight wasn't able to materialize. Rodriguez said he couldn't accept the fight due to nagging injuries from the fight against "Pitbull," which didn't surprise Lopes. "I knew that the fight with Yair was going to be hard to get done, I don't need to say anything, we know his past record," Lopes told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "We know how he sometimes sits out and wants things to fall on his lap like a gift. His past record speaks for itself. I don't need to name names, but he hasn't accepted many fights. I'm the opposite, I don't sit and wait for anything. If you want to fight, accept the fight, and let's go. So Jean Silva wants to fight, let's fight then." Lopes ended up getting booked against Silva, a fellow Brazilian, to headline Noche UFC – which goes down on Sept. 13 in San Antonio. It was quite the odyssey to get to this booking, as UFC offered him a plethora of names, including newcomer Aaron Pico. "I knew I was going to fight at Noche UFC no matter what happened in my last fight, I was going to fight there," Lopes explained. "After I lost the title fight and everything that happened with UFC changing the event to a Fight Night, they offered me, well before that, they had offered me a fight against Aaron Pico. I said no problem. Two days later, I get offered Jean Silva and I said no problem, we accepted. Two more weeks passed after they change the event to a Fight Night ad they said you vs. Yair in the main event of Noche UFC. Again, I accepted, no problem. Then UFC goes to work on the fight, and they come around again offering me Jean Silva. Jean Silva for Noche UFC? No problem. Advertisement "In the position that I'm in, I don't have options. My option is to fight against the guys below me, and what a better way to show I'm deserving of my position and I deserve being considered to fight again for the title by beating the guy who has the most hype right now. Exactly what I went through is what he's going through right now. I went up a lot in level, I exceeded expectations, beat a guy in the top 5 and went on to fight for the title. I think it's the same trajectory the UFC is doing for him. Unfortunately, he has to fight me and I want to prove my arrival was no strike of luck." Although the Rodriguez fight couldn't come together, Lopes does hope to get paired against him in the future. As seen in the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference, there's plenty of bad blood between the two and unsettled business that stems from an alleged altercation between Lopes and Rodriguez's friend, former UFC fighter Marco Beltran, at a regional Mexican event years ago. "I hope so, I hope that in the future the fight happens," Lopes said. "If I win on September 13 and the UFC does the winner of Movsar Evloev vs. Aaron Pico against Volkanovski, and he's there, then I will ask for that fight again." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Diego Lopes hopes for future UFC clash vs. Yair Rodriguez
USA Today
08-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Diego Lopes hopes for future clash vs. Yair Rodriguez: 'I will ask for that fight again'
Diego Lopes hopes to cross paths with Yair Rodriguez. Diego Lopes wants to eventually get his hands on Yair Rodriguez. After their viral heated confrontation at the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference in April, the UFC tried to book the two for the headliner of this year's Noche UFC – the promotion's annual celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Lopes (27-6 MMA, 6-1 UFC) was coming off a decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski in a championship bout for the vacant UFC featherweight belt, and Rodriguez (20-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) off a decision win over former Bellator champion Patricio Freire at UFC 314. Unfortunately, the fight wasn't able to materialize. Rodriguez said he couldn't accept the fight due to nagging injuries from the fight against "Pitbull," which didn't surprise Lopes. "I knew that the fight with Yair was going to be hard to get done, I don't need to say anything, we know his past record," Lopes told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "We know how he sometimes sits out and wants things to fall on his lap like a gift. His past record speaks for itself. I don't need to name names, but he hasn't accepted many fights. I'm the opposite, I don't sit and wait for anything. If you want to fight, accept the fight, and let's go. So Jean Silva wants to fight, let's fight then." Lopes ended up getting booked against Silva, a fellow Brazilian, to headline Noche UFC – which goes down on Sept. 13 in San Antonio. It was quite the odyssey to get to this booking, as UFC offered him a plethora of names, including newcomer Aaron Pico. "I knew I was going to fight at Noche UFC no matter what happened in my last fight, I was going to fight there," Lopes explained. "After I lost the title fight and everything that happened with UFC changing the event to a Fight Night, they offered me, well before that, they had offered me a fight against Aaron Pico. I said no problem. Two days later, I get offered Jean Silva and I said no problem, we accepted. Two more weeks passed after they change the event to a Fight Night ad they said you vs. Yair in the main event of Noche UFC. Again, I accepted, no problem. Then UFC goes to work on the fight, and they come around again offering me Jean Silva. Jean Silva for Noche UFC? No problem. "In the position that I'm in, I don't have options. My option is to fight against the guys below me, and what a better way to show I'm deserving of my position and I deserve being considered to fight again for the title by beating the guy who has the most hype right now. Exactly what I went through is what he's going through right now. I went up a lot in level, I exceeded expectations, beat a guy in the top 5 and went on to fight for the title. I think it's the same trajectory the UFC is doing for him. Unfortunately, he has to fight me and I want to prove my arrival was no strike of luck." Although the Rodriguez fight couldn't come together, Lopes does hope to get paired against him in the future. As seen in the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference, there's plenty of bad blood between the two and unsettled business that stems from an alleged altercation between Lopes and Rodriguez's friend, former UFC fighter Marco Beltran, at a regional Mexican event years ago. "I hope so, I hope that in the future the fight happens," Lopes said. "If I win on September 13 and the UFC does the winner of Movsar Evloev vs. Aaron Pico against Volkanovski, and he's there, then I will ask for that fight again."
USA Today
06-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Diego Lopes puts Ilia Topuria over Islam Makhachev in pound-for-pound, sees fight as 50-50
Diego Lopes weighs in on the pound-for-pound discussion. The discussion around the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in MMA today has been a hot topic over the last week. After Ilia Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 317, many, including the UFC official rankings, have put Topuria over Islam Makhachev on that list. Diego Lopes, a former UFC title challenger and current top contender, thinks it's fair and deserving for Topuria to get that spot. "I think because of Topuria's last three wins, that puts him in that sport, right?" Lopes told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "We're talking about the quality of opponents compared to Islam's. I'm not trying to take anything away from Islam and his wins over (Dustin) Poirier, Oliveira, Renato Moicano, but speaking about legacy, the people who Topuria beat give him that spot." The win over Oliveira tops a three-fight run that many are calling the best in history. Prior to UFC 317, Topuria had knocked out featherweight legends Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in title fights. Lopes, who's a fan of Oliveira, knew a knockout was in the cards at UFC 317, despite his heart wanting a different outcome for his fellow countryman. "We knew that could happen because of their fighting styles," Lopes said. "Obviously, everyone who's a fan of Charles didn't want it to be this way, but we need to be aware of things. You had to put your fandom aside and acknowledge the quality of technique of Ilia. We knew that a well-placed shot from Ilia would put him to sleep, and that's exactly what happened." It's not in the immediate future, given Makhachev's move up to welterweight, but a potential Topuria vs. Makhachev matchup could be on the horizon. If the fight does go down, despite giving Topuria the pound-for-pound best ranking, Lopes still sees the affair as a coin toss. "The only time we've seen Topuria have a tough time was in his debut, which was a close fight, and when he fought that tall kid at 155 who he knocked out," Lopes said. "After that he's evolved a lot, he's evolved a lot. He surprised me a lot because when Charles closed the distance, and you see he has a very good position to get a takedown and in unable to take him down. I was actually next to a friend and when I saw Charles unable to get him down despite having a good position, I looked at my friend and said, 'Ok, he's a problem.' "He's a problem because he's a guy that knows much more than just boxing. He can wrestle, and that can give Islam trouble. Also, we make an analysis based on the fights that happened, but once you're there it can be a completely different fight. It happened to me against Volk. I expected a certain fight, and he was totally different in there. Same thing here. Ilia can focus so much on the wrestling that maybe he gets surprised on the feet, which happened to Volkanovski in the second fight against Islam with the head kick. But it can also happen that Islam worries too much about Topuria's boxing and underestimate his wrestling. I don't know. A lot can happen. I think it's a 50-50 fight."
