"Be very careful"- Charles Oliveira gets realistic on Ilia Topuria's future in lightweight division
Charles Oliveira recently weighed in on Ilia Topuria's bold aspirations to conquer the lightweight division in the future. The Brazilian issued a warning to the reigning featherweight champion that moving up to 155 pounds and carrying over his success is easier said than done but praised him for his abilities.
The former lightweight champion knows first hand how difficult it is to move up from featherweight to lightweight as he did just that and was successful. Oliveira split time between the two divisions from 2010-2017, but permanently remained at 155 pounds after experiencing issues with his weight-cuts that resulted in missing weight on several occasions.
During his pre-fight media availability ahead of his bout against Michael Chandler at UFC 309, 'Do Bronx' responded when asked whether he believes 'El Matador' can be successful at lightweight. Oliveira heaped praise on Topuria's ambitious attitude but mentioned that he should proceed with caution:
"[Topuria] would be obviously a tough fight and I think that what happens is a lot of fighters whenever they get the belt, they have that belt wrapped around their waist, they start thinking up and down in the divisions...I think you have to be very careful when you're coming up to lightweight because this is tough. This is a very tough division but at any rate, I think that he's a very tough and very dangerous guy."
Check out Charles Oliveira's comments below:
Charles Oliveira confident ahead of rematch against Michael Chandler
In addition to sharing his thoughts on Ilia Topuria's potential future move to lightweight, Charles Oliveira discussed his upcoming rematch against Michael Chandler at UFC 309 this Saturday.
During the aforementioned media availability, Oliveira mentioned that he has the edge over Chandler and is confident he will defeat him a second time:
"With all due respect to [Michael] Chandler, but I do believe that I'm one step ahead on everything. I'm one step ahead when I'm standing and fighting him, I'm one step ahead in wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, anywhere. Again, with all respect in the world, I do believe I'm one step ahead of him."
Check out Charles Oliveira's comments below: