If the UFC is planning on having Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira fight at UFC 297 in Toronto, they haven’t told either fighter or their agents.
Canadian fans, don’t get your hopes too high for a potential Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira lightweight title fight in Toronto.
Earlier in the weekend, The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani reported that the UFC was looking to do Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 at UFC 297 on January 20th in Toronto, Canada. That would certainly be a welcome addition to the card, which is currently anchored by Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant women’s bantamweight title.
But that booking was news to Charles Oliveira, who spoke to Heidi Androl backstage at UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Lewis.
“We just heard this from in the locker room, you know?” he said through a translator. “People started asking us on the messages, but this is the first time we hear about it. But that’s the timeline, January maybe. So who knows?”
Further doubt is being sown by Islam Makhachev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, who called the match-up ‘fake news.’
“Fake news @MAKHACHEVMMA fighting Charles Oliveira in January,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Fake news @MAKHACHEVMMA fighting Charles Oliveira in January
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) November 5, 2023
A January turnaround for Islam Makhachev would be pretty quick considering he just fought Alexander Volkanovski on October 21st. Sure, that fight only lasted three minutes, but the training camp for that fight was undoubtedly long and grueling.
We’ll keep you up to date on whether this lightweight title fight comes together for Toronto or a different pay-per-view event in early 2023. As always, it’s worth remembering Ramadan goes down from March 10th to April 8th, so bookings have to be sorted around that for Makhachev.