Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira is after redemption next time out, but not necessarily opposite Arman Tsarukyan.
Oliveira was in Los Angeles last week, expecting to see his likely next opponent decided in a planned title clash between champ Islam Makhachev and challenger Tsarukyan at UFC 311.
But after the Armenian withdrew 24 hours out from the pay-per-view event through injury, Oliveira’s countryman Renato Moicano stepped in and was quickly submitted inside Inglewood’s Intuit Dome.
With that turn of events, it’s unclear what lies ahead for Makhachev following his fourth successful defense, especially after UFC CEO Dana White stated in no uncertain terms that Tsarukyan must re-earn the title opportunity he initially secured with a win over Oliveira last April.
The man ousted from the number one contender spot seemingly plans to repeat the feat, pitching a five-round rematch with “Do Bronx” following this past weekend’s disappointment.
But should the wait for a potential second clash with Makhachev be too long for his liking, a sophomore dance with Tsarukyan apparently won’t be the direction Oliveira looks in.
During a recent interview with the UFC, the Brazilian pointed to a different former adversary whom he’d like to run it back with.
“I prefer to leave it to my managers and focus only on training and being with my family, but we’ll have to see when he (Makhachev) will want to come back now,” Oliveira said. “If he only wants to fight in October, I definitely want to fight before that, so why not challenge Max Holloway for the BMF belt?
“I think Max himself talked about it (a possible rematch). We met before, but I suffered an injury right in the beginning, so there wasn’t an actual fight,” Oliveira continued. “I think we deserve to make this fight happen. He’s moved up, he’s the BMF, the toughest one. I’m very tough myself, I hold a lot of UFC records, so that would be huge.”
When the pair first fought back in 2015, a sudden oesophagus injury sustained by Oliveira handed Holloway the win by TKO.
Talk of a rematch between the pair arose last November in the aftermath of “Do Bronx’s” win over Michael Chandler, with “Blessed” welcoming the chance to defend his symbolic BMF belt for the first time opposite the Brazilian fan favorite.
