There was a time when there were Brazilians charles oliveira Reigns within the UFC. The São Paulo-born fighter won the lightweight championship belt (70.3 kg) in 2021 and also defended the title. … It was successful. Everything turned around after that, when he was stripped of the title due to weight loss issues and had two unsuccessful fights against Islam Makhachev and against Ilya Topria last summer, where he had the option to regain the title.
Oliveira, now the UFC’s submission king with 17 wins under his belt, recently spoke about his last loss to a Hispanic-Georgian. “I was stupid. The guy is shorter than me and he’s a boxer. I should have kicked further away, pushed forward and then went for the takedown. These things happen. That’s part of fighting. “I’ve come back stronger,” he explained during a “master class” at a gym in Brazil. Humility and learning from mistakes.
The fact is that he has come back stronger and despite the setback against Topria, he recovered a few weeks ago in his native Brazil, specifically in Rio de Janeiro. There he competed in a main fight against Poland’s Mateusz Gamlot, winning by submission in the first round. A few days before this victory, he spoke with ABC to analyze what will happen to him.
“Every win we take a step forward. I think winning this Saturday and winning the next fight early next year will take me back to the title. I think the next fight might be BMF (champion is Max Holloway) If he can win this, everything could change in the UFC. Everyone wants to see a fight with Max. It could be January, February, March,” Oliveira said. He won the fight accordingly and now everything points to him fighting Max Holloway as BMF.
And that is exactly how he seeks his special “revenge” against Ilia Topria. A win against Holloway would cement him as a true contender in the UFC lightweight division once again. To be honest, El Matador still has some challenges ahead of him, including defending his title against Paddy Pimblett, but things can always change within the UFC, and the opportunity for a reunion between the two men could end up being missed.
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