Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Vinicius
Oliveira has already passed one major test on Friday:
successfully making weight.
After four consecutive victories in the UFC, Brazil’s “Lok Dog”
Oliveira will have the chance to headline his first event on
Saturday against Mario
Bautista. He and Bautista will battle in the five-round main
attraction of UFC Fight Night 266, also known as UFC Vegas
113, in Las Vegas‘ UFC Apex. Large for his division at 5-foot-9
with a 70-inch wingspan, the 30-year-old knows his time at
bantamweight is limited.
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Speaking with the UFC on Thursday, Vinicius promised that he intends on
moving up in weight, but only after he claims the bantamweight
belt.
“When I found out about the fight three months ago, I weighed 183
lbs.,” the Brazilian admitted. “Since then, I started the process
with a nutritionist who helped me get to 163 lbs. by fight week. On
Friday I will be at weight as I always have been. I have the size
to fight at featherweight or lightweight, but I will only think
about that when I win the bantamweight belt.”
Now that he can put the weight cut behind him having hit the scales
officially at 136 pounds, all focus goes directly to his upcoming
adversary. His opponent had amassed an eight-fight win streak, but
it all came to a halt last October when Umar
Nurmagomedov got the better of him. Of Bautista, Oliveira did
not so much as look past him as he predicted that his
unpredictability would lead to his advantage.
“Bautista is a good fighter who does the basics of MMA well,” he
noted, “but I am an unpredictable, versatile guy and I will be the
Brazilian who will beat him.”
Monster in the Mirror
If he manages to earn his fifth victory in his fifth UFC
appearance, “Lok Dog” has his sights set on gold.
“I would love to fight in the middle of the year at the White
House. It could be against Cory
Sandhagen or Sean
O’Malley. But if they don’t call me, that’s okay, by the middle
of the year I hope to be fighting a top-five opponent, and by the
end of the year I hope to be fighting the champion of my weight
class,” the 135er analyzed.
When asked what fans can expect from his fifth walk to the UFC
cage, Oliveira did not shy away from his answer.
“‘Lok Dog’ is a monster that lives inside me that can only be
unleashed inside the cage; if it’s released before, it causes a lot
of damage. This Saturday, this monster, which feeds on the pain of
its opponents, fans can expect this monster to be unleashed to put
on another show,” the Brazilian concluded.