“We don’t have a title fight, but we got a legend as an opponent,” said the American specialist in an interview with MMA Junkie. “This is a guy who is even more dangerous than Islam Makhachev because he’s dangerous everywhere. He’s a good striker and he has amazing jiu-jitsu. In my opinion, he’s probably the best finisher in UFC history.”
DaMatta believes a win over Oliveira would guarantee that the division’s number two, Justin Gaethje can’t beat them in the title race.
“An early win over him will be a statement. Then no one will doubt that Arman is the number one contender because Gaethje lost to Charles. If we go out there and finish Charles, or just beat him, then I don’t think there’s no way they’re going to give Gaethje a title shot before Arman.”
As a reminder, the fight between Oliveira and Tsarukyan, which UFC head honcho Dana White called a contender fight, will take place April 13 at UFC 300 in Las Vegas, while Islam Makhachev is likely to make another title defense on June 8 in Saudi Arabia.