Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion
Charles
Oliveira has touched down in the Middle East and received a
hero’s welcome.
In order to get adapted to Abu Dhabi’s hot climate and recover from
any jet lag, Oliveira arrived to the United Arab Emirates with 10
team members, 10 days before his
UFC 280 collision with Islam
Makhachev. Fighting for his old title, Oliveira made sure to
leave enough time in his schedule to get acclimated with the
environment, in a locale of Abu Dhabi in which he has never
competed. Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, spoke to Sherdog on Friday
about how “Do Bronx” is handling the final stage of his training
camp.
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“We did the best we could to get Charles 100% adapted to the time
zone and climate,” Lima explained. “Since we arrived, we are doing
[one] training [session] in the morning and another at night, just
like we do in Brazil.”
According to the Chute Boxe head, what impressed him the most about
the area is the positive atmosphere in Abu Dhabi.
“When [the] UFC announced the location of the event, we came
prepared to fight in a totally hostile territory, not only for the
Islamic culture but also because Russia is much closer to here than
Brazil, but that’s not what we are finding in the streets here,”
the coach explained. “In shopping malls, Mosques, public markets,
everywhere we go, people are totally supporting Charles. Everybody
comes to take pictures with him, saying he is the real champion.
Another important point is that, besides having hundreds of
Brazilian [jiu-jitsu] black belts here, jiu-jitsu is also part of
local culture [as] it’s taught in schools and even in
[the]military. So, we are feeling pretty much at home.”
A lingering question that still comes up every so often ahead of
this matchup between submission artist and wrestler is that most
expect the Javier Mendes-trained Makhachev will take Oliveira down
early and often. The coach cannot escape inquiries about this very
topic, and he wanted to put it to rest with a little over a week
before the fight.
“Of course, [Mendes] needs to believe and praise his athlete as
well as I do,” Lima analyzed. “The same way he believes Islam can
take Charles down, whenever he wants, I must believe that Charles
will knock him out, as I do believe [he will do in the first or
second] rounds. If the trainer [doesn’t] believe in his fighter,
who will?”
The head of the vaunted Chute Boxe academy can never remain focused
entirely on one athlete, with a team as storied and large as the
one he runs. Current flyweight king Deiveson
Figueiredo, an ex-Chute Boxe fighter, recently declared that he
plans on taking his fight camp in Belem rather than Sao Paulo in
Brazil. This did not leave a sour taste in Lima’s mouth, and he
wanted to make sure that the 125-pound king would always be welcome
in his ranks, training alongside the likes of Oliveira.
“Everybody loved Deiveson in Chute Boxe. He rented an apartment for
one year in Sao Paulo close to our academy, but unfortunately, his
wife and child did not adapt to Sao Paulo in winter time. I always
say that the most important thing for a fighter to bring his best
is being happy. I told him the Chute Boxe doors are totally open to
him. If he wants to stay with us the last months of his camp, he is
totally welcome,” Lima concluded.