Charles Oliveira Advised to Take 6 Months Break After Brutal Ilia Topuria KO Defeat

UFC veteran advises Charles Oliveira to be out of the UFC limelight and prepare to fight an old rival next after falling prey to Ilia Topuria.

Charles Oliveira Advised to Take 6 Months Break After Brutal Ilia Topuria KO Defeat

Charles Oliveira suggested to take a break from fighting (via X)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

UFC 317 ended in heartbreak for Charles Oliveira as he suffered a devastating first-round knockout loss to Ilia Topuria. Despite being the underdog, fans believed Oliveira’s experience and ground game would trouble Topuria throughout the fight. However, Topuria surprised everyone by finishing the Brazilian with clean strikes before Oliveira could even get going.

Going into the fight, ‘Do Bronx’ promised to rely on his elite BJJ skills to finish Topuria via submission. Unfortunately, Oliveira struggled to control Topuria on the ground and couldn’t implement his grappling-heavy strategy as initially planned. Experts like Paddy Pimblett and Alexander Volkanovski criticized Oliveira’s poor game plan of striking instead of exploiting Topuria’s relative wrestling inexperience.

After the crushing defeat, Oliveira publicly apologized to his loyal fans who supported him in overwhelming numbers throughout the buildup. On the “Show Me the Money” podcast, Gilbert Burns and Renato Moicano reflected on Oliveira’s performance and his next steps.

Burns suggested a potential matchup against another top-five contender to help Oliveira regain momentum in the lightweight division. The former welterweight title challenger also pointed out the necessity to wait and rest before competing again.

Charles, I think he gotta take six months off. 1000% call Sean Shelby and tell him that I told him that he gotta fight Max Holloway. After Max Holloway’s fight with Dustin, Dustin is out. Dustin’s retired. Max [can] rest a little bit because [he’s fighting in July], this guy [maybe] fighting in December, January. Make it BMF for Charles.

Gilbert Burns via Show Me the Money podcast

Max Holloway and Oliveira previously fought in 2015 at featherweight, headlining a UFC Fight Night event in Canada. The bout ended in the first round after Oliveira suffered a neck and esophagus injury, forcing a doctor stoppage just ninety-nine seconds into the fight. Since then, both fighters have moved up in weight and enhanced their legacies massively.

With Holloway returning to lightweight and Oliveira’s legacy at 155, a rematch between the two could gain serious traction. However, the ‘Blessed’ is currently focused on defending his BMF title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318. Following his recent loss, Holloway enters the bout as the betting underdog against the dangerous and experienced Poirier.

After beating Charles Oliveira, Ilia Topuria is predicted to dominate Islam Makhachev

Ilia Topuria initially set his sights on fighting Islam Makhachev to prove himself against the most dominant lightweight champion. However, with Makhachev announcing his move to welterweight, the Dagestani left the lightweight throne vulnerable for Topuria to capitalize on.

‘El Matador’ criticized Makhachev for “ducking real competition” and avoiding a potential superfight that fans were eagerly waiting for. With the lightweight division under his control, Topuria is now eyeing a move to 170 lbs for tougher competition if Makhachev wins the gold.

Ilia Topuria to beat Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria to beat Islam Makhachev (via X)

On top of that, his brutal knockout of Charles Oliveira has shifted public perception in a potential clash with Makhachev. On a recent podcast with Daniel Cormier, MMA veteran Din Thomas backed Topuria to beat Makhachev if they ever fought.

I think he beats Islam. I always thought he would beat Islam. Here’s why. Because Islam, I think Islam had struggled with the Volkanovski fight. The very first Volkanovski fight, he struggled with getting underneath Alexander Volkanovski. Islam struggled to get underneath him to be able to take him down. He’s gonna have a hard time getting underneath Topuria. He’s gonna have a hard time getting underneath Topuria to take him down. If you don’t take him down, he’s getting knocked out.

Din Thomas via Daniel Cormier’s YT Channel

Makhachev, on the other hand, is entirely focused on fighting the newly crowned welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddelena. Going into the fight, the Dagestani is the betting favorite due to his incredible winning momentum. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see whether these two pound-for-pound stars ever get to take on each other.

Also Read: