MMA News Roundup: Charles Oliveira returning to UFC, Romanian female fighter backs Andrew Tate, Islam Makhachev vows to "upset" Aussie fans
Welcome to today's edition of Sportskeeda's daily MMA News Roundup, where we present the biggest UFC updates and other stories from the world of mixed martial arts.
In today's issue, we talk about Charles Oliveira's return, Islam Makhachev's words of warning to Australian MMA fans, and more.
#3. Charles Oliveira returning at UFC 288
Charles Oliveira is set to return to the octagon at UFC 288 on May 6 against Beneil Dariush. This will be his first fight since losing the lightweight belt to Islam Makhachev back in October.
Oliveira's Chute Boxing coach, Diego Lima, confirmed the news with Eurosport Espana's Álvaro Colmenero.
🧐 Diego Lima, mánager y entrenador de Charles Oliveira, me confirmó que peleará contra Beneil Dariush el 6 de mayo en el UFC 288.
🥳 Diego Lima, Charles Oliveira's manager and coach, confirmed to me that Oliveira will fight Beneil Dariush on May 6 at UFC 288.
@BigMarcel24
Oliveira recently told Sherdog that once he has secured a win in his next fight, he will shoot for the belt once again by the end of the winter.
Lima also stated to Colmenaro that if 'do Bronx' had spoken English, the UFC would have booked him against Conor McGregor for The Ultimate Fighter instead of Michael Chandler.
#2. Diana Belbita backs Andrew and Tristan Tate - "They are not that bad"
Romanian fighter Diana Belbita weighed in on the arrest of controversial social media personalities Andrew and Tristan Tate. The two brothers were recently arrested in Romania on charges of rape, human trafficking, and organized crime.
Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA's Andrew Whitelaw, the UFC strawweight revealed that she personally knew the Tate brothers because of a mutual friend and that she had nothing bad to say about them.
"I don't follow them much on social media, so I don't know what they are doing, but from what I know and I know them personally and they are okay, they are nice... People should focus on something else. Leave them alone... If they did something wrong, they'll pay for that... Give them a break, they are not that bad, how people think they are."
Read her full comments here.
Watch Belbita's full interview with us below, where she also addressed being the crush of a few fighters:
#1. Islam Makhachev vows to upset Australian fans
Australia's Alexander Volkanovski is putting his pound-for-pound throne on the line to challenge Islam Makhachev for his lightweight gold at UFC 284. The massive pay-per-view is set to go down at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, where he last fought in 2018.
At the press conference for the event on Friday afternoon, Volkanovski received a warm welcome on his homecoming. His opponent, on the other hand, received a lukewarm one and even had to face some booing while answering questions directed at him.
However, Khabib Nurmagomedov's protege is not an easy one to rattle. Makhachev took it like a champ and vowed to return the favor on Saturday night inside the cage.
"It's okay, I just came to Australia to these people. Doesn't matter, when the cage is closed, the people are just going to watch, but you're going to be upset guys, sorry, sorry."
Watch the full press conference below: