Charles Oliveira thinks Justin Gaethje is playing mind games ahead of their lightweight title clash at UFC 274.
UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira thinks Justin Gaethje is trying to get inside his head ahead of UFC 274 — but it isn’t working.
Oliveira has previously criticized Gaethje for ‘talking a bunch of crap’ to sell the fight and ‘Do Bronx’ doubled down on those sentiments during a recent interview with Olhar da Luta where he accused ‘The Highlight’ of playing mind games.
“Justin Gaethje is coming up with a lot of bullsh*t,” Oliveira said (h/t MMA Clips Brazil). “I think that’s what he’s trying to do, to win the mind game. But that makes no difference to me. I learned that we have two ears to listen but we also have to let it out… If he thinks he can beat me in a standing fight, he can try to knock me out. If he thinks he’s a better wrestler than me, he can take me down too.”
Although Oliveira didn’t reference Gaethje’s latest round of “bullsh-t”, the Brazilian is likely referring to Gaethje’s comments about him being a ‘quitter’.
“He is not the best in this weight class. I can promise you that. He still has quit, and it’s not even very deep down inside of him,” Gaethje said of Oliveira after their matchup was first announced earlier this year.
Both men will have a chance to settle their differences when the two fighters collide in a lightweight title bout at UFC 274. The highly anticipated pay-per-view, which features Oliveira vs. Gaethje as the main event, takes place next month, May 7, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.