“If he thinks that putting down everyone [on the ground] he [fought] is the same thing as [fighting] Charles Oliveira, he is completely wrong.”
Charles Oliveira thinks he is ten times the grappler Islam Makhachev is.
The uncrowned UFC lightweight champion isn’t concerned with Makhachev’s grappling in the slightest despite the latter boasting several submission victories to his resume and training under renowned Sambo specialist Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is considered one of the greatest grapplers in UFC history.
“I don’t care about his fighting style,” Oliveira said of Makhachev during a recent interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi. “What he does best, I do 10 times more. If he thinks that putting down everyone [on the ground] he [fought] is the same thing as [fighting] Charles Oliveira, he is completely wrong.”
Oliveira last fought at UFC 274 where he defeated Justin Gaethje via first-round submission. Due to him missing weight, however, he was stripped of the lightweight title.
Oliveira’s next fight is expected to be against Makhachev, but ‘Do Bronx’ would prefer to fight Conor McGregor for his legacy. Oliveira said McGregor “would be a very good fight for me” and “would put a lot of money in my pocket”.
The Brazilian is currently #4 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings and holds multiple records including the most finishes (19) and most submissions (16) in the promotion’s history.