Charles Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, commented on the words of current UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, who reported that his next opponent will be the division’s number two, Justin Gaethje, with whom he has scheduled a fight for this June.
“Makhachev is good, he’s champion for a reason,” the Brazilian said in an interview with MMAFighting. “The guy is really strong and he has a lot of merit, but I think it’s clear to everyone that he doesn’t want to fight Charles again. He wants to avoid that fight in any way possible. It’s more than obvious.”
Nevertheless, Lima is confident that everything will go according to the scenario announced by UFC chief Dana White, who said that the Russian will fight the winner of the challenger fight between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan in the summer.
“He prefers to fight someone else or move up in weight, but I don’t think that will happen. The winner will fight Makhachev, so there’s no escape for him. If you look at Justin Gaethje’s last six fights, Dustin Porier’s last six fights, Benil Dariush’s last fights, it’s clear to you that there’s only Charles. Charles was unlucky that time, it was Makhachev’s day, but if they fight again, it will be a completely different fight”
Recall that the fight between Oliveira and Tsarukyan will be part of the UFC 300 anniversary tournament, which will take place on April 13 in Las Vegas.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/33632-makhachevu-ne-sbezhat-trener-olivejry-otvetil-rossiyaninu.html?rand=19907
