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While everyone is naming the usual suspects of Tony Ferguson, Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) newcomer, Michael Chandler, as the next possible Lightweight champion following Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement after UFC 254, there seems to be one man missing from the mix.
Indeed, Charles Oliveira isn’t too pleased that he is being left out of the championship conversation, especially when his own employer isn’t considering him to be a possible candidate. “Do Bronx” took the opportunity to respond to one of the promotion’s Instagram posts which had a picture of all five of the aforementioned fighters on it, while leaving him out.
“And I? I’m ready, I come from seven victories in a row and only Poirier and I are coming from the victory of all these fighters who posted,” wrote Oliveira on Instagram. “I am ready, I deserve this chance, you will not regret it.”
Oliveira has been on a hot streak, winning seven in a row dating back to 2018 which includes wins over Jim Miller, Nik Lentz and Jared Gordon. The Brazilian standout was last seen choking out Kevin Lee on March 14 of this year (see it), which was the last event UFC staged before going on a hiatus as a result of COVID-19.
Furthermore, “Do Bronx” has been competing under the UFC umbrella for a decade now, longer than any of the top five fighters named by the promotion as potential heirs to Nurmagomedov’s throne.
So when you couple that along with his current win streak, it looks like the amount of participants should be increased in the proposed tournament to crown the new 155-pound king.