Former UFC Lightweight champion Charles Oliveira says his upcoming UFC 280 fight against Islam Makhachev was originally slated for UFC 283 in Rio, Brazil in January 2023 but Makhachev refused.
They took the fight to where they wanted: Charles Oliveira
The UFC recently announced the UFC 283 event, set to take place at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro on 21st January. In the wake of the announcement, ‘Do Bronx’ revealed that he was supposed to face Makhachev for the vacant 155-pound title at the event, but after the Russian refused to face Oliveira on his homeland, the promotion preponed the title fight to UFC 280 on 22nd October at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
“The negotiation wasn’t hard. Charles is the most sincere guy in the world. Everyone knows who I wanted to fight (Conor McGregor),” Oliveira told AG Fight, “I don’t think this Makhachev fight should have happened now. They talked so much about how they would take the fight in Brazil, That’s a lie. If they had accepted to fight in Brazil, we would be fighting in January. I talked so much about that Rio card. The truth is that they talked, talked, talked, but they took the fight to where they wanted. It’s okay. The Octagon is the same anywhere in the world, in any country. Charles will be 100% ready.”
With less than two months to go before Oliveira steps into a hostile area for the Makhachev clash, he stated that he will be flying to Abu Dhabi around three weeks prior to the event.
“I told Diego (Lima), this time I’m going to do something different. I never wanted to come to the United States with so much time, but this time I’m going there (Abu Dhabi), I think we’ll go 20 days before the fight,” Oliveira went on, “If I’m not mistaken, 15 of the team are going, practically my entire team, from the part that makes my camp, will be going there with me this time… So we can wake up at the right times, we try to do the perfect thing, to make a perfect fight.” [H/T BJPenn.com]
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