Former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira was eager to reclaim the undisputed 155-pound title against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280. Things, of course, didn’t go as planned for him as “Do Bronx” endured his first loss in four years.
Oliveira recently spoke about his failed title bid in an interview with Super Lutas. He says there was no pressure on his part and simply gave credit where it was due.
Charles Oliveira reflects on the Makhachev fight. #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/241TtRuKUZ
— ♞ (@theMAK_MAFIA) December 22, 2022
“Against Makhachev, I didn’t feel any pressure,” he said (transcript by MMA Mania) “He was just better than me. I haven’t watched that fight back yet. It doesn’t make any difference to me.
“It wasn’t a bad night, it was just 15 bad minutes. Ten to 20 bad minutes. There’s nothing else to say. You know I always tell the truth. I already thought about it, but there’s no real explanation.”
Team Oliveira apparently turned down a rematch offer, which was supposedly for UFC 283. But if and when he does get another crack at the current champ, Oliveira says he wouldn’t change a thing.
“I wouldn’t change anything in a rematch. I know how much I trained. As far as the fight goes, what can I say other than that Islam was better than me. I wouldn’t change the camp nor the weight cut, I wouldn’t change absolutely anything.
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but Islam was better than me on that night.”
Taking Oliveira’s place as Makhachev’s first title challenger is featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. That fight will headline UFC 284 on February 12th in Perth, Australia.
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