This was reported by the Brazilian’s trainer Diego Lima in an interview with Sherdog.
“We watched his fight with Volkanovski and I believe that Islam clearly won,” said the Brazilian specialist. “We were able to effectively study what Wolkanowski did and we will be able to replicate that. Of course, Charles and Volkanovski are very different, but we identified the Australian’s strengths in this fight and we will adapt them to Charles’ game”
Despite the failed attempt to move the fight from Abu Dhabi to the United States or Brazil, flying to a different time zone and acclimatization is not a problem for Oliveira, who will arrive at the venue a few days in advance.
“Charles hardly feels the change of time zones, and adapts to a different time zone very quickly. Everyone reacts differently, but Charles adapted well in Abu Dhabi last time. To give you an example, if we had fought in Mexico City, then we would have had to fly in earlier to get used to the altitude. In the case of Abu Dhabi, we don’t need to arrive early. Besides, Charles doesn’t like to be far away from home.”
Recall that the fight between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira, in which the Russian will defend the UFC lightweight championship belt, will headline UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on October 21. A year earlier in the same arena, the Russian won the vacant championship belt by finishing the Brazilian with an arm-triangle choke in the second round.