Islam
Makhachev favors former foe Charles
Oliveira in a potential clash against Colby
Covington.
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Makhachev dethroned Oliveira via Round 2 submission at
UFC 280 in October 2022. Oliveira bounced back with a knockout
win over Beneil
Dariush at UFC
289 to earn a rematch against Makhachev and was once again
scheduled to take on the Dagestani phenom at
UFC 294 in October 2023, but was forced to withdraw due to a
nasty cut suffered in sparring just 11 days before the fight.
Oliveira was replaced on short notice by Alexander
Volkanovski, who suffered a head-kick knockout loss against
Makhachev, who is now slated to put his title on the line against
Dustin
Poirier in the
UFC 302 main event on June 1.
p.m. ET on ESPN+
Meanwhile, Oliveira recently returned to action, coming up on the
short side of a split decision against surging contender Arman
Tsarukyan in a title eliminator at UFC
300 last month. Currently at a crossroads in his career,
Oliveira is eyeing a move up to welterweight to fight
Covington.
Makhachev recently heaped praises on his former foe, while inviting
“do Bronx” to train in Dagestan. The lightweight champ also
predicted a stoppage win for Oliveira in a potential clash against
“Chaos.”
“Charles is a good guy, if I can help him one day, he can join us
[in our] camp, come to Dagestan,” Makhachev said at UFC 302 media
day. “He has very good striking, high-level grappling. We can help
him with the wrestling.
“I think Charles can finish [Covington]. Because Charles, [he’s] a
very, very dangerous guy you know. Every second, this guy looking
for the finish. And how many finishes [does] he have? I think more
than everybody. That’s why this guy [has] very, very high-level
skills.”