Just over a week out from the huge UFC 309 show at Madison Square Garden, rumors began to circulate that the co-main event between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler is in jeopardy.
After deciding to wait no longer for his fight against Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler demanded a new fight from the UFC and was given a huge rematch against Charles Oliveira on one of the biggest shows of the year.
‘Iron’ Mike is confident that with a win over the former lightweight champion, he will cement himself as the next title challenger after Arman Tsarukyan.
Charles Oliveira provides an update on his UFC 309 co-main event against Chandler
Earlier this week, rumors began to circulate that there were issues on the side of Chandler and that the promotion was looking for a last-minute replacement for ‘Do Bronx’.
After the rumors caught on like wildfire, Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano tossed their names in the hat, stating that they would step in on short notice to fight in the UFC 309 co-main event.
Despite that, there has been no official word from the UFC that the co-main event between Oliveira and Chandler is off, and Oliveira is under the impression that it is still a go-ahead.
“We think it’s gonna happen, dude, I’m ready, I’m almost traveling, I’m about to go (to New York),” Oliveira told New York Post Sports.
“I’m gonna start doing the same thing, when I see there’s a fight about to fall or something like that, I’m like, ‘Hey dude I’m here’, I’m gonna do the same thing, man,” the former champion continued.
The 35-year-old has already beaten both Chandler and Poirier before when he was reigning as the lightweight champion, and he is hoping to get back into title contention with a win on November 16.
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Charles Oliveira provides a verdict on Islam Makhachev vs Arman Tsarukyan
Oliveira’s last fight came at UFC 300 this past April against the aforementioned Tsarukyan where he fought to a close split decision, with Tsarukyan earning the title shot.
The title fight between Islam Makhachev and Tsarukyan is rumored to go down in January 2025, with the champion’s team recently leaking the date on their Instagram account.
Having shared the cage with both lightweights, Oliveira has given his verdict on how he sees that future title fight playing out.
“I’ve told everyone, I think I wasn’t there (against Makhachev), I didn’t fight Islam.
“They have very similar games and I think each has to come and look out for the same things, you have to watch out for the striking because they do offer some striking and they also have to be very mindful of the ground game.
“It’s very similar styles and I think that they have to watch out for the same things from each other. I think Islam is a little step ahead of Arman, I think he’s just stronger by a little bit when push comes to shove, any of them could win,” Oliveira predicted.
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