Charles Oliveira talks potential financial impact on Michael Chandler from missed Conor McGregor opportunity: "He has a family to provide for"
Unlike most of his peers, Charles Oliveira is not critical of Michael Chandler amid his struggles to lock down a fight with Conor McGregor. Instead, the Brazilian feels for his opponent ahead of their rematch at UFC 309.
Oliveira spoke to MMA Fighting one week after the UFC 309 matchup was made official. Instead of chastising 'Iron' for losing two years of his career waiting for McGregor, 'Do Bronx' said he does not believe anybody is in a place to criticize his opponent with few individuals knowing the "reality" of the situation.
In Portuguese, Oliveira told Brazilian reporter Guilherme Cruz:
"People talk and talk but no one knows what the reality is. I'm not here to criticize anyone. If he waited [for Conor McGregor], that's because it was good for him. I hope it was good for him because two years with no fights is a lot and Chandler has a family to provide for."
Assuming both fighters safely make it to the Octagon on Nov. 16, the fight will end a two-year-long layoff for Chandler, who last fought Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 in November 2022. In the time since his last fight, Oliveira has fought twice, most recently losing a split decision to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300.
Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler I
Ending the longest layoff of his professional career, Michael Chandler's return fight against Charles Oliveira is a well-known rematch of the UFC 262 main event. In that matchup, the two lightweight veterans competed for the vacant UFC lightweight title left behind by Khabib Nurmagomedov, with Oliveira winning the belt with a second-round knockout.
While Oliveira put an exclamation point on his decorated career in just over five minutes into the fight, the first round was almost entirely dominated by Chandler. 'Do Bronx' briefly had back position at the beginning of the fight but was hurt early and often while nearly being finished twice.
Given the result of the first fight and Chandler's layoff, Charles Oliveira is unsurprisingly a 2-1 betting favorite leading up to the rematch. Chandler has not picked up a win since knocking out Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 in 2022.