Credit: CES MMA/Will Paul
Johnny Lopez happy to play the ‘OG’ role in CES 60 title fight
Johnny Lopez has won four straight fights, and 11 out of his last 12, but for some reason when people talk about the best fighters from the New England region, he probably isn’t being discussed enough.
“Mr. Nice Guy” isn’t all that concerned about notoriety, but he is focused on becoming CES MMA’s first-ever flyweight champion. Lopez will have that opportunity this Friday night when he faces Blaine Shutt for the inaugural 125-pound strap at CES 60. The event, which features three championship fights, will take place at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI and will air on UFC Fight Pass.
The 36-year-old Lopez recently joined MyMMANews.com to discuss the flyweight title bout, sharing the card with longtime mentor and coach Matt Bessette and wanting to set the table for one half of the main event, how he likes the matchup from a stylistic perspective, why he feels this will be a barn burner on Friday night, when he felt like things began to click in his MMA career, what he feels will be the biggest difference in the fight, goals for 2020 and more.
When it comes to getting the shine amongst the New England MMA scene, Lopez is happy to represent for OG’s of the area on Friday night.
“I think [I’m being overlooked],” Lopez told MyMMANews.com. “Not that I need to see my name in all of these articles but I’m used to every fight, people sleeping on me. At 125, I’m used to being the smaller guy. I’m not the tulles individual and I’m really skinny. I always see myself as the underdog anyways in my mind and I’ve got to step up and beat this dude because everyone thinks he’ll destroy me. Mentally, it puts me in a good spot. It’d be cool to get more recognition because more people talk about you but I’m gonna control what I can control. I want to go out there, dominate, look for finishes all the time and with that, hopefully that will come with more recognition.
“They always steer away from me and go more towards the younger fighters. With me being in my 30’s, it’s like, ‘he’s not gonna get looked at by the UFC because of his age’. But that’s fine, I’ll just go out there and beat all the young bucks then. I’ll be the OG and show everyone what’s up.”
Check out the full chat with Johnny Lopez ahead of his inaugural CES flyweight title bout with Blaine Shutt at CES 60 in the video above.
