UFC lightweight king Charles Oliveira has laid down a huge challenge to Islam Makhachev ahead of their UFC 280 showdown.
On October 22 at UFC 280, Charles Oliveira will travel to Abu Dhabi to defend his lightweight crown against challenger Islam Makhachev. While Oliveira may not officially be recognised as the champion, the majority of fans and pundits believe the Brazilian is the rightful holder of the title - despite losing it on the scales in the lead-up to his UFC 274 meeting with Justin Gaethje.
âDo Bronxâ has fought long and hard to get to the top of the mountain and given how many obstacles heâs had to overcome, youâd have to imagine he wonât be going down without a fight.
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, a fired up Oliveira made it clear to Makhachev that heâs ready for the fight to take place just about anywhere.
âIâm going to his home, where they wanted the fight, where they think they will beat me,â Oliveira said. âI know Iâm the biggest problem of this division. No oneâs dumb, right? Every guy Islam fought was a striker and he took them down, and I went toe to toe with every guy I fought and only took them down to make things happen after I hurt them on the feet. Islam is fighting the worst problem of the division, Charles Oliveira.
âWant to start the fight on the ground? Iâll start playing guard. It wonât make any difference to me. Again, Iâm telling everyone this, Iâm the divisionâs biggest problem and youâre not understanding. I donât care who it is and when it is. If you want to trade on the feet, come for it, I have firepower in my hands. If you want to take me down, do it.â
The Khabib factor
Even though Khabib Nurmagomedov has been retired for almost two years, thereâs a popular opinion out there in the MMA world that a dominant win for Charles against Khabibâs friend Islam could coax âThe Eagleâ out of retirement.
Either way, though, weâre in for one hell of a collision on Fight Island.