Former UFC champ Aljamain Sterling defends Charles Oliveira against fan's 'crazy' claim he's ducking Islam Makhachev
Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has defended Charles Oliveira after the Brazilian received backlash from some fans for the injury that has ruled him out of UFC 294.
Oliveira was set to face Islam Makhachev next weekend in a rematch for the lightweight title. Unfortunately for 'Do Bronx, however, a cut suffered in training this week forced him to withdraw.
Oliveria suffered a deep laceration above his eye during sparring, which has required immediate stitches. Alexander Volkanovski has since been confirmed to be facing Makhachev in his place, which is a rematch of the pair's clash at UFC 284.
Since the news of his injury, Charles Oliveira has come under fire from a portion of fans who believe the Brazilian has ducked the fight. One fan even wrote that he should have faced Makhachev whilst injured, as other fighters have previously done:
"Even @HenryCejudo fought @funkmasterMMA with a cut under his eye for his return title fight. @CharlesDoBronxs never wanted the rematch. It was Dana’s business decision to do so. As @TeamKhabib says, Charles breaks under pressure!"
The comment drew a response from Aljamain Sterling, who has recently fought Henry Cejudo and T.J. Dillashaw, who were carrying injuries. 'Funk Master' defended Oliveira and stated that it's unwise to fight whilst injured. He wrote:
"All fighters have injuries or problems bro. Some worse than others. This is a crazy take. Do you think it's wise/smart to fight with a big cut, that was opened up a few days before the fight?"
Check out the tweets here:
Dana White discusses Charles Oliveira's withdrawal from UFC 294
Dana White gave the press his reaction to the news of Charles Oliveira's injury during a recent Dana White's Contender Series post-fight press conference.
The UFC CEO revealed Oliveira suffered the injury in the fifth round of his last sparring session before he was due to fly out. He then stated that they were only informed of the injury after he had already gotten stitches. He said:
"Round five of sparring last night before he's supposed to jump on a plane today, splits his eyebrow wide open and had it stitched up last night. Obviously, can't fly out there with that."
White then criticized Charles Oliveira's camp for not informing them sooner. He added:
"These guys never call us like they should when something happens. They call us after they get it stitched up, but, on the flip side too, I could see him not wanting to risk it, getting a shot like this and then, you know. The Volkanovski crew...these guys are just absolute studs, man. He jumps in and he accepts the fight."
Catch White's comments here: