Former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira is going to make his return to the octagon this year, his coach has confirmed.
The Brazilian has been out of action since April, when he suffered a controversial split decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in Las Vegas. And with his last opponent currently suspended after punching out at a fan during his walkout, they feel there is a path back to the gold.
Oliveira lost his 155lb title to Islam Makhachev in October of 2022 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, and the Dagestani grappler has kept the belt ever since. Since then, he has been pushing for a rematch, defeating Beneil Dariush in his comeback fight before the Tsarukyan fight.
Charles Oliveira’s coach confirms his UFC comeback for this year
Charles Oliveira’s trainer Diego Lima has confirmed that the former champion is coming back in the next few months, and has his eyes set on the world title once again. Speaking with AGFight, he said that his charge will definitely be returning to the cage within 2024.
A quote translated by Championship Rounds on X, formerly Twitter, read: “Charles Oliveira will for sure fight again this year.” In another clip, Lima added: “They [Oliveira and the UFC] talked a lot, we talked, I told them my idea, what I would like.
“But now we have to wait for them to also come up with what they think for Charles. They really like Charles, they want the best for Charles and I certainly made it clear that we wanted to return to the belt path.”
Charles Oliveira plotting route back to Islam Makhachev lightweight title fight
Last year, Oliveira was scheduled to rematch Makhachev at UFC 294 in the same venue as their first meeting, but an injury curtailed the fight. Instead, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski stepped in, and the Brazilian lost his next fight.
But he is still very keen on that rematch, and his camp believe it is closer now than ever. “Both Charles and I want the belt,” Lima continued. “Now with Arman suspended, there would be no other name than Charles Oliveira. Charles is second in the rankings.
“And if you look at the rankings, there is no one to fight with Makhachev. Dustin Poirier just fought, Justin Gaethje also got knocked out. So the truth is with Arman out of the game. I believe there is no one at 155lb to fight Makhachev other than Charles. So, it’s certainly what we want.
“It’s what Charles wants and of course it doesn’t depend on us, it’s on a company called UFC… On our part, that’s what we want.”
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