Charles Oliveira’s legendary UFC career has been full of ups and downs and he has opened up about the toughest moment of his UFC tenure.
At UFC 317 on June 28, Charles Oliveira looks to make UFC history by becoming the first fighter ever to become a two-time UFC lightweight champion when he takes on Ilia Topuria for the vacant title.
Ahead of their blockbuster main event fight, Topuria has made a huge change to his fight camp, parting ways with his long-time coaches, the Climent brothers.
Despite being widely regarded as the best boxer in the UFC, Oliveira isn’t worried about Topuria’s boxing skills and has boldly predicted that he will finish ‘El Matador’.
Charles Oliveira opens up about the toughest moment in his career
‘Do Bronx’s’ career has been full of ups and downs, and early on in his career, he had to turn around his reputation.
In his first-ever UFC main event against Max Holloway, Oliveira forfeited after suffering an injury and was subsequently labeled as a ‘quitter’, which is a reputation he fought hard to knock off.
Ahead of one of the biggest fights of his career thus far, the Brazilian has opened up about the toughest moment in his career.
In 2022, ‘Do Bronx’ was set to defend his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje but after a controversial UFC 274 weigh in, Oliveira came in heavy and was stripped of his title before the fight.
Despite that, the fan favorite went on to win the fight via a first round submission, showcasing that he was still the best lightweight in the world despite not having the title.
“In that fight against Justin Gaethje, everyone knows they stole my belt,” Oliveira told Real MMA Today.
“Man, people think that over 200 grams, they’d let it slide? But really there was never 200 grams. I made weight on Thursday (a day before weigh-ins), I was good. First (Gaethje’s) corner and his coach were always around me, all over the place, like he was from the commission.
“This stuff doesn’t happen anywhere else. There was nothing I could do. I fought in his town, his commission, his people. They just wanted to hand him that belt but they couldn’t do that outright. They were trying to mess with my head, that’s the truth… In reality they just robbed me,” Oliveira continued.
Oliveira reveals the best boxer he’s ever fought
Having fought several boxing specialists throughout his tenure in the UFC, Oliveira has named Poirier as the ‘sharpest’ he faced.
The 35-year-old came from behind to defend his title against Poirier at UFC 269, once again putting an end to his ‘quitter’ reputation.
At UFC 317, though, the Brazilian will be hopeful that he doesn’t have to come from behind to hand Topuria his first-ever professional MMA loss.