Charles Oliveira’s next fight is set, and he has an offer for upcoming foe Islam Makhachev.
The uncrowned lightweight king will attempt to regain the 155-pound gold when he faces the Russian talent in the main event of UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 22, the date and location initially suggested by Makhachev and his longtime friend Khabib Nurmagomedov, and “do Bronx” wants to make things easier for Makhachev by starting the bout off his back.
“I’m going to his home, where they wanted the fight, where they think they will beat me,” Oliveira said on this week’s episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocacao Franca. “I know I’m the biggest problem of this division. I don’t think anyone is stupid. Every guy Islam fought was a striker and he took them down, and I went toe to toe with every guy I fought and only took them down to make things happen after I hurt them on the feet. Charles Oliveira is the greatest problem in the division. Islam is fighting it.
“Want to start the fight on the ground? You can start guard. I won’t care. It won’t matter to me. I don’t care who it is and when it is. If you want to trade on the feet, come for it, I have firepower in my hands. If you want to take me down, do it.”
Oliveira was stripped of the UFC title on the scale before finishing Justin Gaethje this past May, and has names like Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee included in his 11-fight winning streak. Makhachev won his past 10 in the octagon against the likes of Bobby Green, Dan Hooker, Thiago Moises, Drew Dober and Arman Tsarukyan.
The Chute Boxe representative doesn’t treat Makhachev as an easy opponent and recognizes his skills in the sport. Yet, “do Bronx” sees himself as a bad match-up for someone with that style of fighting.
” When you are fighting someone who will take you down you must train your best,” Oliveira stated. “People don’t get it, I don’t know if they’re stupid or dumb. Islam has some striking, but he takes everybody down. He’s defeated strikers, and every man he has fought were those who were scared of being taken down. I’m not afraid of getting taken down. Islam has a lot to worry about what he’s going to do. I have no weight over me, nothing. I am 100 percent at the best things he does. I hold the [UFC] History record for submissions and have plenty of firepower.
“You want peace? We want twice of it. You want war? You want war? … I’m ready. I’ll win this guy. Listen to me, I’ll leave a gigantic legacy. I get near the big names of the sport and they feel bothered. I don’t understand why that is. It’s not like I have done anything. The reality is they see how much I’m evolving. This is the truth. The way I talk has changed, the way I get dressed has changed, the way I arrive has changed. Everything has changed .”
As for the fact he’s facing Makhachev in what is treated like enemy territory, Oliveira won’t mind either. Oliveira went 6-0 when competing in UFC events in Brazil — and expects to headline a UFC card in his home country in January 2023 — and has travelled all around the world for the company, fighting from Canada to Mexico to New Zealand, and now makes his first appearance in the United Arab Emirates.
“The octagon is the same wherever, in a street in the favela or in Dubai or anywhere else,” Oliveira said. “It’s just the two of us when the cage door closes. I have all the respect in the world for Islam and his story and what he’s done, but we have to weight things, the names I’ve fought and the names he’s fought. This is a different world. He is way more talented than I am, so we will see who the best.
” I’m happy to be an underdog so everyone wins. That’s the reality. I get sad when I’m not the underdog so people don’t make money.”
