Charles Oliveira eyes contest outside of the UFC octagon amid Islam Makhachev rematch talks
Charles Oliveira wants to compete in other forms of combat sports to keep himself sharp while he isn't competing in the octagon. The former UFC lightweight champ was recently in attendance at UFC Vegas 76, cornering Chute Box teammate Elves Brener.
Whilst in Las Vegas, 'do Bronx' paid close attention to the 4th edition of UFC Fight Pass Invitational, which went down last Thursday, 29th June. The event featured five submission grappling matches and an eight-man elimination BJJ tournament featuring esteemed names like Glover Teixeira, Craig Jones, Felipe Preguiça, and Nicholas Meregali.
A third-degree black belt in BJJ, Charles Oliveira is open to competing in grappling matches during his time away from the octagon. 'do Bronx' said in an interview with AgFight:
"Jiu-jitsu is what I love to do. If I had the opportunity to fight jiu-jitsu with or without the gi, it would certainly be very important for me . Because I want to keep up with the fight, the competition, so it would be important. All I have to do is get in touch with Diego, with Macaco, who will definitely be here fighting. I watched Glover's fight, he's sensational, he deserves all the respect in the world. So for sure fighting, for me, would be very important. For sure [I'm up for it, if they invite me]" translation h/t/ AgFight
Catch Oliveira's comments below:
Coach is confident of Charles Oliveira knocking out Islam Makhachev in a rematch
Charles Oliveira's magnificent title reign ended via a devastating second-round submission loss against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 last October. Oliveira took his time to recover, returning as an underdog against perennial contender Beneil Dariush at UFC 289 last month.
Shutting down all his detractors, the Brazilian absolutely starched Dariush in the very first round, making an undeniable case for another shot at UFC gold. Oliveira's long-time coach Diego Lima is confident that Oliveira will knock out Makhachev in the rematch, which according to him, is also the only fight to make for the lightweight title.
Lima recently told MMA Fighting:
"It’s a knockout. It’s funny that people say, ‘But Charles has the most submissions [in UFC history],’ but the fight starts on the feet and we have a lot planned for the striking...That’s why I really believe in a knockout — but when they go down, then we have a submission."