Charles Oliveira has made a huge injury revelation after picking up an impressive win over Michael Chandler at UFC 309 this past Saturday.
After deciding to take another fight instead of waiting any longer for Conor McGregor‘s return, Michael Chandler was given a huge rematch against Charles Oliveira at UFC 309.
The 38-year-old was allegedly told by the UFC that if he was able to get past ‘Do Bronx’, he would finally be awarded an undisputed lightweight title shot.
Charles Oliveira makes huge injury admission following win over Michael Chandler
Unfortunately for ‘Iron’ Mike, the former champion showcased why he is still a big threat at the top of the lightweight division, after dominating Chandler for almost five rounds, sailing to a decision win.
Several times throughout their five-round co-main event it looked as though the Brazilian was going to secure a finish, however, the grittiness of Chandler kept him in the fight till the very end.
With that, in the final round, Chandler came extremely close to securing a finish with what seemed to be a flurry of illegal strikes to the back of Oliveira’s head, which he has since aired his frustration about.
Despite his highly impressive performance, Oliveira has since revealed that he had a serious injury heading into his fight and he was unable to train for weeks during the lead-up.
“I didn’t want to talk about it because if we lose it’s taken as an excuse,” Oliveira began to explain to UFC Fight Pass Brazil.
“If we win, we value it. But I had a knee injury. I tore or burst two ligaments. I was supposed to be out of action for four to six weeks. But I didn’t want to pull out of this fight at all because I knew that if I won I could fight for the title again.
“I had to do physiotherapy every day, try to train with the pain, but I spent practically 15 to 20 days without training properly. I just really focused on weight training, which was the only thing I could do. But god blessed me enormously and everything worked out,” Oliveira continued.
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Charles Oliveira wants to be front row for Islam Makhachev vs Arman Tsarukyan
Following his impressive win over Chandler, ‘Do Bronx’ is hopeful that he has secured himself the next lightweight title shot.
Current champion Islam Makhachev is set to defend his strap against Arman Tsarukyan, with rumors circulating that the bout will take place in January.
With that, Oliveira is hopeful that he can be front row for that fight to see which fighter he will end up rematching for the title.
“I want to be a champion, everybody knows this, I’m just gonna take a couple of days off since the boss told you guys he’s gonna come and pick me up, I’ll be right there,” Oliveira said in the post-fight press conference.
Oliveira has previously talked about potentially being the one to welcome McGregor back to the Octagon, however, he isn’t interested in the Irishman.
“This is the guy that runs away the most in the UFC, this fight isn’t gonna happen. Would it make sense? Yes. Would it be a good fight? Yes. We both sell fights well but he chooses his opponents, this fight’s not happening,” the former champion continued.