Fans may not know the name Fabiano Buskei, but they have seen him plenty of times on television alongside Brazilian stars like Charles Oliveira.
Fluent in five languages, Buskei is often seen on UFC programming as the translator for Brazilian fighters. A Las Vegas native, Buskei was contacted by the promotion in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and asked to translate during the UFC’s extended stay at The APEX. Clearly, the UFC liked what they saw as Buskei went on to become a full-fledged member of the team, traveling with the promotion and often appearing inside the Octagon to help bridge the language gap between fans and some of its biggest stars.
One of Buskei’s more memorable nights came in July 2021 during UFC 264. Then-lightweight world champion Charles Oliveira was on hand to take in the evening’s main event between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. Expecting to square off with the winner, ‘Do Bronx’ was ready to go live as soon as the main event concluded to share thoughts on his next opponent. It was then that McGregor suffered a brutal leg break in the opening round, a moment that caused utter chaos in and out of the Octagon.
“My interaction with [Oliveira] lasted minutes, but you have to understand the background here,” Buskei said this week on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “I’m from Curitiba and had a privileged life. You think of a fighter, you know where he came from, and this guy’s aura. … First, he smiles, and the world opens for him. He has a way of speaking, to express himself clearly, looking people right in their eyes. I thought, ‘This guy has something.’ It was a pleasure to meet him.
“And to add insult to injury, the icing on the cake was McGregor on a stretcher screaming obscenities to everybody,” he said with a laugh. “He was talking so much crap. It was a hilarious moment, and I was trying to focus. I even asked Megan [Olivi] live, ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear what you said.’ She was extremely gracious to me. There was no way I could hear.”
Oliveira and Dariush are ready to bring the intensity to #UFC289
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— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 9, 2023
Fabiano Buskei Predicts Charles Oliveira’s UFC 289 Post-Fight Speech
Even before making his promotional debut in 2010, Charles Oliveira was well-known and respected in the Brazilian mixed martial arts community. His run as one of the most prolific finishers in UFC history over the last dozen years has catapulted him to superstardom amongst his countrymen, amassing almost seven million followers on Instagram and multiple sponsorship deals thanks to his immense popularity.
“He can say whatever he wants, man,” Buskei continued. “He came back and dropped [opponents] and won, and the atmosphere was very interesting. Charles is loved by people. I had the privilege to connect him to a little bit because now they know what he says. That really is a big responsibility, because it’s a person, it’s a brand, and I want fighters to profit from it. It’s about paying bills, and they don’t have 25-year-long careers.”
Buskei will be on hand to translate for ‘Do Bronx’ at UFC 289 on Saturday night when the former UFC champion steps into the co-main event for a clash against streaking lightweight contender Beneil Dariush. Should Oliveira get his hand raised, Buskei already has a pretty good idea of what the submission specialist will say.
“‘What happened in Abu Dhabi doesn’t define me,’” Buskei predicted as Oliveira. “‘Any person can have a bad day. But you know who I am. I’m a lion and I’m going all in. I’m going to take what is mine.’
“That’s what I see. We did just a human simulation of what AI would say is going to be Charles’ speech. ChatGPT just said what he’s say. I assume, based on what I see from him and from what I’ve witnessed alongside him, that the general idea is like, ‘A loss doesn’t define me. I’m always here. That [belt] is mine.’ When you’re a lion, you look at that belt and it says it’s yours.
“The sports wins with that because it’s a rivalry [with Makhachev], a rivalry of cultures and styles, and there’s the Khabib [Nurmagomedov] factor. We know Charles’ trajectory and where he came from. It’s not just two or three fights we had the privilege to see up close, it’s much more than that. And it’s colliding with another story, too. [Dariush is] always respectful, and I absolutely doubt [Oliveira] won’t be extremely respectful with Beneil.”
Will Charles Oliveira get back into the win column at UFC 289?