The Brazilian Cowboy would like to face better competition in his next outings.
Brazilian welterweight Alex Oliveira would like to face better competition than what the UFC has been giving him lately. Once paired against Randy Brown and later Ramazan Kuramagomedov for a match at UFC Vegas 20, ‘Cowboy’ would like to take on ranked competition instead.
Although the fight was scrapped once Kuramagomedov left the bout on weigh-in day due to illness, Cowboy would still welcome higher level opponents. In an interview with Ag Fight, Oliveira even mentioned how he would like to face former champion Robbie Lawler, if the promotion were to give him a chance.
“From the start, I’ve been saying I would only train if my coach gave me a fight. Now, this is a job to me. I fit in well, I’m a brawler. I’ve never picked opponents. Those fighters make good money to be able to pick fights, The UFC wants to put on shows. I used to be in the top 15 and I never picked fights. It’s annoying, because the guys at the top don’t want to face the guys below them. It’s messed up.”
“If the UFC were to match me up against Lawler, it would be a really cool fight.” Alex continued. “I would also take other ranked fighters. I want to have a brawl against those guys. The problem is that most of them just duck, they come up with excuses. That’s the truth. If the UFC gives me Lawler, that’s cool. I think he would accept a fight against me.”
In his last outing, Oliveira (22-9-1-2 NC) got tapped out by Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 254, back in October 2020. The defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for the Brazilian, who had decision wins over Max Griffin and Peter Sobotta, respectively in March and July of 2020.
Lawler (28-15-1 NC) finds himself on a four-fight losing skid, with defeats to Neil Magny, Colby Covington, Ben Askren and Rafael dos Anjos. The 38-year-old’s latest win happened almost four years ago, when ‘Ruthless’ defeated Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision, in July 2017.
Oliveira was supposed to compete at UFC Vegas 20, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 27. The fight will continue without the Brazilian, and heavyweight contenders Cyril Gane and Jairzinho Rozenstruik will be the night’s main event.