Despite the numerous potential challengers waiting for UFC
lightweight champion Islam
Makhachev, Charles
Oliveira sounds confident about his place at the front of the
line.
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Former champ Oliveira (34-9) was scheduled for a rematch against
Makhachev (25-1), the man who dethroned him last year, at UFC 294
on Oct. 21. However, a cut suffered during sparring forced “do
Bronx” out of the matchup 12 days before fight night. Featherweight
champion Alexander
Volkanovski stepped up on short notice for his own rematch
against Makhachev, losing via first-round knockout.
In the wake of Makhachev’s dominant win over Volkanovski, it is an
open question whether Oliveira will automatically step back into a
title fight once he is fit to compete. While two-time former title
challenger Justin
Gaethje has made a strong case for himself with his “BMF Belt”
win over Dustin
Poirier earlier this year, former KSW two-division champ
Mateusz
Gamrot is also looking for his first title shot. Former UFC
champ-champ Conor
McGregor, owing to his superstardom, is never far from the
discussion, with Daniel
Cormier recently mentioning him as a potential candidate.
Makhachev himself has expressed interest in facing Gaethje while
also hinting at a move up to welterweight.
However, Oliveira believes nothing has changed to rob him of the
title shot he had secured before the unfortunate injury. The
Brazilian said on “The MMA Hour” through a translator:
“Whoever the UFC says he’s going to fight; they’re going to fight.
Everybody knows I’m next. First in the rankings, coming off a great
win and ready to fight like I was before. I was ready for that
fight until [the cut] happened, and I’m next in line.”
While Oliveira has yet to hear anything from the promotion’s
matchmakers, he believes they are well aware of his hunger for the
belt.
“No one has said anything,” he said. “They know who I am, they know
what I’m all about, they know that I’m going to train to become a
champion. I’m training and I’m getting ready for it. They know what
I’m all about. I don’t fight for money. I fight to make history and
I fight for my legacy. So, I’m going to continue to train, continue
to get prepared and try to get up to 100% just like I was right
before this fight. When I’m 100%, that’s when I’ll be ready to
fight.”
The former lightweight champ stated that expects to be cleared to
train without restriction in another 20 days. Ideally, Oliveira
would want to rematch Makhachev sometime early next year.