Charles Oliveira shares bold prediction for upcoming Michael Chandler rematch at UFC 309: "I want to show it wasn’t luck"
Charles Oliveira appears optimistic ahead of his lightweight bout against Michael Chandler, as he recently gave his take on their rematch at UFC 309. Without downplaying Chandler's game, Oliveira believes in his ability to emerge victorious, saying he has more skills in his arsenal than the American.
Oliveira is set to face Chandler in the co-main event of UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden. During the 'UFC 309 Countdown' episode, which was uploaded on UFC's YouTube channel, the Brazilian discussed facing Chandler and shared his prediction, saying:
''Michael Chandler is a huge problem. He’s very explosive, he’s always moving forward, he hunts you down. We’ll definitely analyze my fight with Michael Chandler so we don’t make the same mistakes again. I won the first fight, but I want to show it wasn’t luck and that I am better than him, that my game is better, so that’s what I want to do.
Oliveira continued:
''I’m a lot more dangerous on the feet and on the ground. I’m sure Michael Chandler will come hungrier to show that he can beat me. I respect him a lot but I think the result will be the same, and I'll have my arm raised in the end.''
Check out Charles Oliveira's comments below (45:05):
Oliveira is coming off a split-decision loss against Arman Tsarukyan at the historic UFC 300. The 35-year-old will be looking to have another go at UFC gold with a win against Chandler.
Meanwhile, in his most recent octagon appearance at UFC 281 in 2022, the 38-year-old Chandler succumbed to Dustin Poirier via third-round submission. He was set to return in a welterweight clash against Conor McGregor at UFC 303 earlier this year, but McGregor withdrew himself from the bout after suffering a toe injury.
Michael Chandler discusses his defeat against Charles Oliveira
During their first encounter at UFC 262, Michael Chandler took on Charles Oliveira for the undisputed lightweight title but suffered a second-round knockout loss.
Ahead of his rematch at UFC 309, Chandler appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and expressed his thoughts on what went wrong when he previously met Oliveira inside the cage, saying:
''The second round was me making a really silly mistake that I have since cleaned up… I was too young, man… Even though I was old, I was too young, I was too new in the sport, I had two and a half minutes of octagon experience, two and a half minutes of UFC cage time.''
Check out Michael Chandler's comments below (15:29):