It was a scary moment when Charles Oliveira suffered an esophagus injury during the opening round of the first UFC main event of his life, against Max Holloway. In fact, the injury was so severe that the left side of his body was paralyzed for four hours.
Oliveira felt his career was over and he would never be able to move his body again, but now that the trauma is gone, he is eager to make a comeback, preferably by the end of the year.
“It was four hours without moving my left side.” Oliveira told Combate. “Everything went through my head. I was afraid of being crippled. I was devastated, I cried so much. Not because of the loss, but because of how it was. It was a shock for everybody. My mom cried when she saw me. It was bad, scary, but it’s over now. I’m glad to be training jiu-jitsu again. I’ve been hitting pads and I felt no pain. I hope I can fight before the end of the year, I would like a spot on the December 19 card. I’ll be back soon.”
As for the future, “Do Bronx” would welcome a rematch with Max Holloway since he doesn’t consider their first encounter a real loss.
“I wouldn’t put that fight as a loss, because there was no fight. It wasn’t a punch or a kick from him that defined the fight. I hurt myself. I’d rather be knocked out or submitted. I want that rematch bad, but Holloway has a fight coming up just like everyone else ranked above me, so the important thing is not to stand still. I want to show I’m still in the mix. If I win my next fight, I think it’s fair to face Holloway again.”
Holloway is scheduled to take on Jeremy Stephens in December, at UFC 194.
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