Charles Oliveira discloses why he initially refused to fight Islam Makhachev in October and what changed his mind
Charles Oliveira is gearing up to fight Islam Makhachev in a rematch from their UFC 280 bout that ended with the Dagestani submitting the Brazilian in the second round. The rematch will take place on October 21, 2023, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Following his recent victory over Beneil Dariush at UFC 289, Charles Oliveira was clearly the frontrunner for the fight against UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. However, initially, the idea of the fight seemed to be in jeopardy considering 'Do Bronx's claims that he won't be able to fight in October.
Despite presenting his case for scheduling the fight in November or December, the UFC and Makhachev's team remained resolute in building the UFC 294 card in Abu Dhabi around the Dagestani fighter.
Now that the rematch has been officially booked, Charles Oliveira recently revealed his reluctance to fight Makhachev in October and what changed his mind. Speaking in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Oliveira stated [translated]:
"What changed is that I just learned how to play. What I knew was that the UFC was planning to maybe have a fight in Brazil in November... So I was trying to push it to November. I was obviously playing with them, but it didn't work. So now we're fighting in October."
Catch Oliveira's comments at the start of the video below:
Charles Oliveira reveals key lessons from the first Islam Makhachev clash
Charles Oliveira was poised to present Dagestani wrestling phenom Islam Makhachev his biggest test leading up to the fight at UFC 280. Many believed that Oliveira's jiu-jitsu skills would be the perfect counter to Makhachev's wrestling prowess, making it an intriguing matchup with high expectations.
However, the fight proved to be a one-sided affair, with Makhachev dominating both in the striking and grappling departments. He managed to drop Oliveira on multiple occasions, proving that he has improved his striking.
Speaking about the key lessons he learned from their previous encounter and Makhachev's hard-fought victory over featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, Oliveira stated:
"It was great to see how much Islam evolved in fighting standing. It was great to see that to analyze that side of him."
Speaking about the prediction for the fight, Oliveira added:
"I don't know how I will do it but I'm going to win. I'm ready, I was born to do this. I'm going to beat the guy."
Comments at (10:45 and 16:45) in the aforementioned interview: