"Is English a requirement to be cool?" - Fans pick sides after Islam Makhachev claimed speaking in Portuguese makes Charles Oliveira less marketable
Islam Makhachev's upcoming fight with former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira is generating all the hype. Like most high-profile bouts, this one does not lack any tension between the two opposing camps.
Appearing on the DC & RC show with Daniel Cormier and Ryan Clark, Makhachev took a dig at Oliveira's linguistic ability and cited it as something that held him back:
"I don't know, I don't understand this guy. He tried to always make [it about] money. But this guy doesn't speak English. Nobody understands this guy, he doesn't speak English. English is important if you want to make money, you have to speak some language everybody understands. Nobody understands what he's saying."
Watch Makhachev's comments on the DC & RC show below:
Drawing from the same, fans debated who the more popular fighter was between the two lightweight contenders. Fans rallied behind Oliveira after the criticism against him for speaking his native tongue. One fan questioned:
"Is English a requirement to be cool?"
Check out this tweet from @issawalsh:
@tenismemis @HDoumergumedov Is English a requirement to be cool?
Another fan added:
"You don’t have to understand somebody to think they’re cool"
Check out the tweet from @hockey_habs:
@tenismemis @HDoumergumedov You don’t have to understand somebody to think they’re cool
One fan stated that Oliveira is cooler despite his track record with making weight, having missed weight six times in his career.
Check out the tweet from @HDoumergumedov:
Counterpoint: Charles is way cooler twitter.com/frontwillow/st…
One fan responded along the same lines as Makhachev's earlier jibe at Oliveira:
"You don't even understand what Oliveira is saying without a translator but cooler? Ok lmao. Keep hating."
Check out the tweet from @tenismemis:
@HDoumergumedov You don't even understand what Oliveira is saying without a translator but cooler? Ok lmao. Keep hating.
Other fans joked how they understood Oliveira better than his counterpart, as Makhachev himself converses in broken English and is perhaps not as fluent as his teammate, Khabib Nurmagomedov:
@tenismemis @HDoumergumedov i dont understand either when islam speaks tbh
@tenismemis @HDoumergumedov I understand him more than makachev fam
One fan also appreciated Charles Oliveira's ability to sell a fight better than his less experienced opponent:
@tenismemis @HDoumergumedov Hearing Charles speaking Portuguese is still more entertaining than hearing Islam in English. Lad can't sell water in 🏜️
Another fan seemed glad that Islam Makhachev was engaging outside the octagon, too, having been a very low-key fighter before his imminent main event fight. @CranberryTyler liked the change in Makhachev that saw him trash talk his opponents:
@hockey_habs @tenismemis @HDoumergumedov That adds to it for me. Also, on an unrelated note, I appreciate that islam is trash talking. He broke out of the khabib mold and adds further hype to the fight.
Charles Oliveira perhaps buckling due to naysayers and trash talk, says Chael Sonnen
Despite 'do Bronx' being a former champion and having dominated many more ranked opponents than Makhachev, he finds himself booked as the underdog in the championship fight.
Perhaps that, and Makhachev's comments, are getting to the Brazilian. Chael Sonnen weighed in on the fight on an episode of Beyond The Fight and voiced his deduction of Charles Oliveira's mindset:
"I think Charles is pi**ed off. I think Charles is pi**ed off [because he] was the champion, [but] hasn't lost. He was the champion and hasn't lost, and he's a three-to-one underdog. I think that upsets him — I think that insults him."
Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below: