Charles Oliveira says he pulled out of his upcoming fight with Beneil Dariush at UFC 288 due to an incident in training.
The now injured Oliveira was seeking redemption following a disappointing display at UFC 280 which ended up with the belt in the hand of Islam Makhachev.
A matchup between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush was very likely a deciding factor in who may be the next challenger for lightweight gold.
With a win over Oliveira, there would be no doubts remaining for Dariush as he would have extended his win streak to nine in a row.
Charles Oliveira targets June return from a minor injury
Dariush frustratingly spoke out on social media over his disappointment, and Charles Oliveira released statements of his own today in response to the situation.
“I wasn’t able to train, I got injured during wrestling practice,” Charles Oliveira said. “I tried to train, I tried to do everything I could but we couldn’t, so we pulled out of the fight. [Fighting at UFC 288] would be great because I would be fighting on the same night of two teammates.”
Dariush is eager to welcome Oliveira back on his feet and is willing to push the fight to UFC 289 in Vancouver, but it seems as though Oliveira is not prepared to give a final answer just yet.
“I have to stay [away from training] for a few days so I can go back to training soon, and then we’ll reschedule the fight,” Oliveira said. “I’ll be back to training pretty soon. That’s it, I had a small injury and decided to pull out so I wouldn’t fight injured. We’ve made that mistake once and I didn’t want to do it again. We’re taking one step back so we can take one, two, three steps forward soon.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
With victories over multiple contenders at 155, Oliveira can be confident that if he was to step up and overcome Dariush, Makhachev will be awaiting the Brazilian for a second dance.
Previous to their bout in Abu Dhabi, Oliveira was riding a comfortable 11-fight win streak with an incredible 10 finishes and just one decision since 2014.