Colby
Covington’s recent callout has Charles
Oliveira’s attention.
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Covington recently turned down a potential matchup against
welterweight up-and-comer Ian Garry,
who has been chasing him for several months now. “Chaos” instead
called for a “legacy fight” against former lightweight champ
Oliveira, who has admittedly been contemplating a move up to
welterweight for his next outing.
As long as the
Ultimate Fighting Championship is on board with it, Oliveira is
open to the possibility.
“Man, in reality it’s like I said, it’s sitting down and looking at
legacy, history, values,” Oliveira recently told Ag.Fight “You have to sit down. When I woke up
in the morning, thousands of people were sending me messages. I
sent it to Diego [Lima] and Diego said it too, I see what you
think. I said, ‘Diego, just sit down, talk, think, see what’s good,
see what the UFC thinks about it. It’s not just what Charles
thinks, it’s about what the UFC thinks about it.
see. Why not?… For sure [I’ll be willing to move up]. If it makes
sense, if it’s something good for me, why not?”
However, a fight with Covington isn’t the only possibility that
intrigues Oliveira.
“Now it’s time for my managers, Diego Ribas and Jorge
Patino, to work hard with UFC to see what makes sense,” he
said. “Some suggested me to be a reserve fighter of [Conor
McGregor vs. Michael
Chandler at UFC 303]. Others liked the idea of a fight with
[Max] Holloway for the BMF title. That would be great too since it
would be a rematch of a fight that happened in 2015, and I got hurt
in the first round and could not continue. Right now, I´m just
waiting.”
One possibility that “do Bronx” won’t consider is a matchup against
Renato
Carneiro, who recently challenged the former lightweight
champ.
“I respect ‘Moicano’ a lot,” he said. “But my focus in the division
now is above me in the rankings.”
Oliveira is coming off a split-decision loss to Arman
Tsarukyan at UFC
300, a bout that could have earned the Brazilian another shot
at 155-pound gold if he had been victorious.