Charles Oliveira believes he should be next in line to challenge Justin Gaethje for the undisputed UFC lightweight championship, especially given the controversies surrounding their past history.
Oliveira flew to Phoenix to put his 155-pound belt on the line in 2022, but he was stripped of the title on the scale after weighing in a half-pound over the championship limit. “Do Bronx” was adamant he had made weight the night before, and has always complained the local commission might have done him wrong. Arizona’s own Gaethje made weight and was still eligible to win the title, but was finished by the Brazilian.
Four years later, Oliveira sat down to watch Gaethje make history and beat Ilia Topuria at the UFC White House card on June 14 and finally win the undisputed belt.
“I made it very clear that I was waiting for the White House event to be over so we could figure out what the next step was. Now we know,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “The champion is Justin Gaethje, and I definitely want that fight. I definitely want to be next in line. And there’s nothing better than putting both belts on the line, the BMF title and the lightweight championship.”
Oliveira’s head coach and manager Diego Lima was in Las Vegas past weekend to corner Alan Nascimento at UFC Vegas 119, and “do Bronx” said the plan was to have a meeting with UFC officials during the week to negotiate his next move.
“I’m just waiting for a phone call,” Oliveira said. “They know there’s a lot at stake in this fight. There’s everything that happened with the weigh-in, the fact that I fought in his backyard and that my belt was taken from me there. There’s a lot of history behind this matchup. I have a lot of respect for him, just like I respect every opponent, but this fight has to happen. Like I posted, I’m just waiting for my phone to ring.”
Oliveira fought Gaethje in Arizona and Islam Makhachev in Abu Dhabi for back-to-back title fights in 2022, plus UFC title wins over Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier in the United States the year before. His most recent victory was a one-sided decision against Max Holloway in Las Vegas to claim the BMF title, and he suggests Gaethje returns the favor to face him in enemy territory this time.
“I’ve learned something throughout my life and my career: when you want something, you have to go after it,” Oliveira said. “I’m chasing a title, so I have to go wherever that title is. But when I became champion I had to defend my belt in his backyard. So why not in Brazil, or anywhere else in the world? Of course, if it were in Brazil, it would be something magical for me and for the Brazilian fans. But like I just said, I’m here to fight for the title. It doesn’t matter where it is. Wherever the call comes from, I’ll be there, ready.”
Oliveira picked Topuria to win at UFC White House, but “Gaethje put on a great performance” and came out victorious, with Topuria fighting “in a way we had never seen before.” Gaethje recently said “there’s very, very small chance that I would ever consider fighting this year again” after going 2-0 this year against Paddy Pimblett and Topuria, and Oliveira is open to waiting for a 2027 unification of the UFC and BMF titles if that’s the case.
“I was waiting for the White House event to happen so I could understand what the next step would be. I believe this week or next week everything will start falling into place,” Oliveira said. “I like to stay active. I like to keep fighting and making things happen. But if it’s for a title unification fight, and the chance to make history once again, then why not stay on the sidelines for a while, stay focused, and know exactly when the fight is going to happen? Right now, the timing is to wait and see what the UFC wants so we can move forward.”
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