Charles Oliveira’s future plans aren’t pleasing everybody.
Charles Oliveira reigned supreme at UFC 269 last weekend, stopping Dustin Poirier and defending his UFC lightweight title for the first time. The Brazilian won the vacant title with a TKO over Michael Chandler earlier this year.
As far as Do Bronx’s next challenger, most believe Justin Gaethje—who failed to wrest the title from Khabib Nurmagomedov last year—is next in line. UFC President Dana White himself said that match-up makes sense.
However, something else might be on the table for Oliveira and though it might not make sense for sporting reasons, it would certainly be a more lucrative option for both fighter and promotion.
Oliveira recently said he would be all for former champion Conor McGregor leapfrogging Gaethje into the number one contender spot. “If I had the chance to fight Conor for money today, I would,” he said.
McGregor’s record at lightweight is nothing to write home about. His debut was a championship winning TKO of Eddie Alvarez in 2016. Since then he has gone 0-3 with a submission loss to Nurmagomedov and two TKO defeats to Dustin Poirier.
Despite his poor recent form, McGregor also sees himself as the best candidate to face Oliveira next.
One person who is not thrilled with this idea is former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen. On his YouTube channel Sonnen blasted Oliveira for what he deemed ‘a scumbag move’.
“He went as far as to say ‘step aside Justin Gaethje, bring in Conor McGregor, I want the money fight’,” said Sonnen (ht sportskeeda). “This is what Oliveira is saying. I don’t know how much of that is tongue in cheek and how much of it is true. I don’t look at Charles Oliveira as some witty guy that would go out and manipulate the media even in the form of a troll, so I’m taking him at his word.”
“Now, that’s a scumbag move,” continued Sonnen. “It’s a scumbag move because nobody would give him an opportunity because he doesn’t move the needle. He’s never been the money fight, which is what held him back for so long. So now that he’s gotten up in the loft, if he pulls the ladder up behind him, I’m gonna look back at that and say ‘I don’t really like that’.”
After recovering from a broken leg suffered against Poirier this summer, McGregor is now back in training (and looking beefier than ever).