Well that was predictable.
Despite his confident pre-fight assertions that he’d be keeping the nickname, UFC debutante Wendell Oliveira will not be introduced as “War Machine” for his bout against Santiago Ponzinnibio at UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Arlovski 2.
“I won’t change my nickname because I’m the real ‘war machine,'” he told MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz. “I finish my fights, that’s who I am. He’s not a ‘war machine.’ I honor this name, he doesn’t honor the sport. He has to find a new nickname for himself.”
At the weigh-ins however, he was announced as “the Machine” according to Cruz.
One wrinkle that might not have occurred to Oliveira, but probably did occur to UFC officials is the trademark dispute that caused the infamous Jon Koppenhaver to legally change his name to War Machine. It seems TNA wrestling trademarked that nickname for one of its wrestlers and is still feeling litigious on the matter.
As for Koppenhaver, Oliveira says many of his friends in Brazil thought he was the fighter being sought for assaulting porn-star Christy Mack.
“That was awful,” Oliveira told MMAFighting.com. “When the news came out, a lot of friends called me asking what happened because the stories had no photo in Brazil. I’m in Brazil, he’s in the United States. We’re not the same person.”
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