"That's a lie. They wouldn't come" - Charles Oliveira on Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev's apparent willingness to fight in Brazil

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Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov (left) and Charles Oliveira (right). [Image courtesy: left image from mmamania.com]

Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev are set to face each other at UFC 280. The championship bout will have the vacant lightweight title up for grabs and is being held in Abu Dhabi. Oliveira had some reservations about the fight venue and timing.

Oliveira spoke during a live stream on popular Brazilian YouTube channel PVT. He expressed his thoughts on Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev's apparent willingness to come to Brazil:

"I tried a lot to keep it to my fighting timing, which is November and December like last year. And since we know that UFC will come to Brazil in January. I tried to set it here. That really was their play, as you said, saying that the fight could happen in Brazil, that they would come. That's a lie. They wouldn't come." [translation via MMA with Subtitles on YouTube]

Oliveira further outlined how a fight in Brazil could have been facilitated:

"They only talk, talk, and talk and don't do it. If they had wanted for the fight to happen in Brazil, it would have happened. All they had to do was say it. I didn't want this fight. Everyone knows it. I wanted the big payment from the other fight. However, everyone knows that I'm a UFC employee. You can't escape that. So we tried to negotiate from every angle. I tried New York because it was a neutral ground. But the fight was decided there. But to be honest the cage is the same anywhere in the world." [translation via MMA with Subtitles on YouTube]

Catch the full interview below:

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Charles Oliveira warns Islam Makhachev ahead of their fight

Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev are on 11-fight and 10-fight win streaks, respectively. 'Do Bronx', however, has championship pedigree to his name and he warned Makhachev of what he was capable of:

"As I said in a different interview today, 'We have to put in on a scale and weigh it.' Look at my last 11 fights and look at Makhachev's last 10 fights. What he does best is putting people on the ground. If he does that, he'll be putting on the ground the biggest finisher in the history of UFC. I'm the biggest problem for this division." [translation via MMA with Subtitles on YouTube]

The former lightweight champion holds the record for the most finishes in the UFC at 19, with a record 16 of them being submission victories. Makhachev will not have it easy if he decides to take to the mat in the fight.

The fight will be a hard-fought one with more than just the championship on the line, but also a rivalry that has slowly simmered in the build-up.

Check out an excerpt from Charles Oliveira's full interview subtitled in the video by MMA with Subtitles:

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