While Charles
Oliveira catches crabs for fun now, that was not always the
case.
Oliveira recently revisited the coastal town of Guaruja, Brazil,
where he was raised. Oliveira also went crab hunting, an activity
he initially started for fun as a kid. However, “Do Bronx”
gradually started catching crabs to make money to help his family
and his MMA career. Oliveira recalls that he would also give his
grandmother some crabs. The former
UFC lightweight champion now has the luxury of going crab
catching as a hobby. As Oliveira digs in the mud for crabs, he says
he is in his “natural habitat.”
A Way of Life
“Right now we’re at Claudevan’s ranch,” Oliveira said in a UFC Countdown video. “I have been coming here
since I was a kid. This is where we go fishing, catch crabs, and
reconnect with nature a bit. At first, I’d just do it for fun with
my friends and uncles when I lived here. Later on, I started doing
it to make some money to help with competitions and my family. I’d
even give some to my grandma. Now I do it more as a hobby, I really
enjoy it… This is my natural habitat.”
Oliveira (36-11) is scheduled to challenge Max
Holloway (27-8) for the BMF title in the main event at
UFC 326 on March 7 in Las Vegas. Oliveira comes off a
submission win over Mateusz
Gamrot that saw him rebound from a knockout loss against
Ilia
Topuria. Meanwhile, Holloway also rebounded from a knockout
loss against Topuria with a win over Dustin
Poirier in his last outing.