“Does he want that” Charles Oliveira doubts if Islam Makhchev would want to grapple against Oliveira’s deadly 16-submissions record
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Charles Oliveira x Islam Makhachev
Charles Oliveira is set to face off against Islam Makhachev in enemy territory. The fight for the vacant lightweight title will be held in Abu Dhabi, inside a packed Etihad Arena. While fans are excited about the prospect of Oliveira retaining his title, the other narrative going around is obviously Khabib’s protege challenging for the title Nurmagomedov once held.
The fight will be the main event at a stacked UFC 280 card. With Sterling and Dillashaw set to co-main event the evenings in a fight for the Bantamweight title. Sean O’Malley will take his toughest test yet as he is signed to face off against former Champion, Petr Yan in a 3 round fight. Belal Muhammad and Sean Brady will be on the undercard too.
Hence Islam and Oliveira have a huge bar to set, as they will be the closers for, what seems to be on paper, one of the greatest MMA cards of all time. However that is a challenge the champion is ready for.
Charles Oliveira is confident that he can submit Islam Makhachev
Talking to the MacLife, Oliveira who was backstage at UFC London weigh-ins talked to reporters and here he revealed that he isn’t worried about where the fight goes. Oliveira who has an underrated stand-up game has had knockdowns over 2 of his last 3 opponents. Hence he is pretty confident about how the fight would play out on the feet.
Earlier this week, Charles offered for Islam to start the fight on the ground itself, hinting that he wasn’t intimidated by the grappling skills of the Dagestani. The MacLife reporter asked Charles if he was at all worried about Makhachev’s prowess on the ground. To which Oliveira had a short and stoic answer.
“Well he can do that (grapple) if he wants, but I am the one who has 16 submissions in the UFC, so does he really want that” said The champion. While the translator did mistranslate Oliveirs’s 16 submission victories to 11, we still get the point.
Oliveira was adamant about having this fight in Brazil, however, an Abu Dhabi Card is enemy territory may sound more appealing for the Brazilian to be the place to recapture his title, right in front of former Champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Most notably Oliveira has promised that he would call out Khabib Nurmagomedov, out of retirement if he were to defeat Islam Makhachev in Abu Dhabi.
Also Read: “I’ll start playing guard”- Charles Oliveira doesn’t mind fighting Islam Makhachev on the ground
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Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)