Breaking: Charles Oliveira reportedly rejected immediate rematch against Islam Makhachev at UFC 283
As per Charles Oliveira's coach Diego Lima, 'do Bronx' turned down a rematch against Islam Makhachev at UFC 283. According to Lima, even though Oliveira is not injured, the former champ sustained some emotional stress from his UFC 280 title loss to Makhachev.
Makhachev recently dominated Oliveira en route to a second-round submission win at UFC 280 in October. The newly crowned lightweight champ immediately set up a clash against featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski, which was finalized soon after for UFC 284 in February in Perth.
While some alternately suggested Beneil Dariush's name as the legitimate No.1 contender for the next lightweight title shot, Charles Oliveira's name was surprisingly lost in the mix. But the Brazilian's longtime coach Diego Lima claims that his pupil was offered an immediate rematch in front of his home fans in Rio de Janeiro at UFC 283.
However, Lima claims to have talked it over with Charles Oliveira and mutually decided that January was too soon for a rematch. The Chute Boxe coach recently told Portuguese-language channel Super Lutas:
"When we were going to face Makhachev. We showed a lot of interest in fighting him in Rio. One week after [UFC 280], the UFC got in touch with us. They gave us the opportunity to fight [Makhachev] in Rio. They have always been really good to us. We have really good talks. It was up to us to accept or not.” [h/t bloodyelbow.com]
“I talked it over with Charles. He’s not injured, but there’s an emotional stress. It’s way beyond physical. Charles is the only fighter that has faced all the top 5 guys within a year. Champs normally hide, they want to fight once a year. That’s not Charles, but Rio is way too close now. We prefer to give Charles a well-deserved vacation.” [h/t bloodyelbow.com]
Watch Lima's interview below: