Charles Oliveira was not amused by Nate Diaz’s recent comments and won’t let that distract him from his main focus, which is regaining the UFC lightweight championship.
“Do Bronx” re-inserted himself in the conversation for the next shot at the 155-pound belt after back-to-back wins over Mateusz Gamrot and Max Holloway, and the fact that he won the BMF belt for his win over “Blessed” made Diaz aim at him in an interview with Theo Von, saying he’s confident he would “beat the fucking shit out of Charles Oliveira.”
“I told [my coach/manager] Diego [Lima] that this is the moment for us to think carefully about what’s going to happen,” Oliveira told Canal Encarada. “Would a fight with Nate be good? Of course, definitely. Given everything he’s been saying — he’s a guy who sells a lot, someone who would help us make money, it would be a big fight and a lot of people would want to see it. There’s also Conor [McGregor] talking. So honestly, I’m very sure that the most important thing is understanding the game, understanding what the UFC wants, to see if it’s good for us too, because it has to be good for both sides.”
Oliveira has always made it very clear he would be open to facing McGregor given the financial side of the match-up, and admits he’s gaining confidence that “The Notorious” could finally fight again after being away from the octagon for almost five years.
“We’ve heard so many times that Conor is coming back and nothing happens,” Oliveira said, “But one of the reasons I believe he might return this time is that Dana usually wouldn’t say anything, and this time he has spoken. So I do believe he could come back to fight at [International] Fight Week.”
Oliveira revealed he’s also interested on being the backup fighter for the 155-pound title bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje at the UFC White House card on June 14, but it depends on a certain factors.
In order to do that, “do Bronx” said he would need a guarantee that Topuria, if victorious, would defend the lightweight title instead of moving to welterweight to face Islam Makhachev. In a scenario where Topuria wins and leaves the division, the UFC could then ask Oliveira to fight in July or August for the vacant belt, forcing the former champion to do another camp on shorter notice for a title bout.
“I’m going after the title,” Oliveira said. “I want to become champion again, but I think nobody is naive, everyone is doing the math. The belt will be unified in June. I could be a backup for the fight. But I stay focused on training, make weight, and when I get there, there’s no fight [for me]. I think that if Topuria wins, he moves up a division and the belt becomes vacant. Regardless of whether it becomes vacant or not, I’m next in line. And then imagine the UFC says, July or August, let’s make a fight for you against this or that.”
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