Vinicius Oliveira is putting his body through it every time he signs on for a UFC fight.
“Lok Dog” has a huge opportunity ahead of him this Saturday as he faces fellow bantamweight contender Mario Bautista in the main event of UFC Vegas 113. At the start of this fight week, Oliveira shared a video on Instagram of himself stepping to the scale and registering a weight of 74.7 kilograms, about 30 pounds over the 135-pound limit for his weight class.
Oliveira was asked about the video at media day on Wednesday and he revealed that his weight cut is even steeper at the start of his training camps.
“To be honest, I need to lose a lot of kilos,” Oliveira said. “I used to do that, but it is tough to me. I don’t know how many times I’m going to stand in this division, so I’ve got a plan to get the belt faster, then move on. Move on from my division because I think it’s not healthy to the body to lose a lot of pounds.
“I usually lose from the beginning of my camp, 24, 23 kilos [approx. 50-52 pounds] to fight and that’s too much. I feel really tired, I feel sick, but now I did some different things with my health and my food. I put out the sugar, so I think it’s making me better than the last cutting weight, but the suffering is the same. [Thursday], I need to lose, like six or seven kilos [13-15 pounds]. It’s normal.”
So far, Oliveira has successfully made weight for all four of his UFC fights and, more importantly, he’s delivered inside the octagon. After being signed off of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, the 30-year-old Brazilian hit the ground running, knocking out Bernardo Sopaj with a spectacular flying knee and then winning decisions over Ricky Simon, Said Nurmagomedov, and Kyler Phillips.
Oliveira beat Phillips in July and while he would liked to have capitalized on his positive momentum sooner, his weight has been an impediment.
“Yes, I’d like to return sooner than this fight in February,” Oliveira said. “But I need to care about my weight and now I’m at a good weight to fight in February.”
“I think I just need to fix about my weight,” he later added. “I weigh so much, like 23 [kilos] up on this division. I need to lose 23, 24 kilos , so I cannot fight often.”
If Oliveira’s plan is to come to fruition, victory is imperative this weekend. Bautista recently saw an eight-fight win streak snapped by Umar Nurmagomedov, but the winner of the UFC Vegas 113 main event will hold on to a coveted spot in the bantamweight contender line.
Oliveira sees another ranked opponent in his future if he gets past Bautista and then a shot at a UFC title before 2027 rolls around.
“I see myself at the end of the year fighting for the belt for sure,” Oliveira said. “But before that, I’m going to fight in the top 5. After this fight I’m going to put on a great performance to the audience, and then to the middle of the year I’m going to fight against a top 5 in the rankings, it doesn’t matter who. Maybe I’ve got some names in my mind. Two names I would like to fight so much in the White House, maybe if it is possible there are only two guys in the rankings in top 5 that are able to fight there, but it doesn’t matter who. Middle of the year I’m going to fight again and this year I’m going to fight for the belt against anyone, doesn’t matter.”
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