Charles Oliveira wants Justin Gaethje next to unify the UFC and BMF belts, but there was a different scenario playing in his head after his most recent win over Max Holloway, and that was finally getting to face Conor McGregor inside the octagon.
McGregor will headline the next numbered event on July 11, but Holloway will be the one standing across the cage at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“You and everyone else know that fight was supposed to be mine, but he chose Max because he thinks he can beat Max. The truth is, he ran from me,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “It was never officially offered [to me], but everyone knew that whoever won between Max and I would fight him. In reality, he picked Max because he thought it was the easier path.”
Oliveira, who won a dominant five-round decision over Holloway this past March to claim the BMF belt, doesn’t see such an easy match for “The Notorious” against “Blessed”, though. The Irishman hasn’t entered the cage since fracturing his leg against Dustin Poirier in July of 2021, going 0-2 that year against Poirier.
“It’s a complicated fight because he hasn’t been in the cage for a long time,” Oliveira said. “How many years has he been out now? It’s been a long time, five years without fighting. But he’s Conor. If you make a mistake and he lands, he will knock you out.”
The longer the fight goes at UFC 329, better it should be for the Hawaiian veteran, Oliveira said. Holloway’s last 17 fights were scheduled for five rounds, and he went to championship rounds in 12 of them.
“I think the first and second rounds favor [McGregor] a lot,” Oliveira said. “After that, things swing much more in Max’s favor. Conor has a great chance of getting the knockout early if he can impose his game. But once you get past those rounds, Max definitely has a much better chance of winning.”
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