Charles Oliveira claims UFC 280 fight against Islam Makhachev is a title defense: ‘The belt is already mine’
Charles Oliveira believes he is still the lightweight champion and his fight at UFC 280 serves as a title defense.
Oliveira was stripped of his lightweight title when he missed weight for his UFC 274 main event fight against Justin Gaethje. It was disappointing news and after the fight, the Brazilian scored a submission win but the belt was vacant.
Now, in the main event of UFC 280, Oliveira is set to face Makhachev in a pivotal fight for the lightweight division but for the Brazilian, he believes this is another title defense for him.
“The belt is already mine,” Oliveira said to Sports Illustrated speaking through a translator. “To me, this is another title defense… I made weight, I’m sure I made weight,” Oliveira says. “I feel like I was robbed. It was really hard – I heard my dad crying, my daughter was questioning why I lost the belt. It was very upsetting. It went against all the dedication I put into this. But the most important part was that I showed my championship mentality. Even after all that happened, I pulled through and still put on a show for everyone.”
Against Islam Makhachev, Charles Oliveira is heading to the enemy territory as he is facing the Dagestani native in Abu Dhabi. Yet, he doesn’t care about that at all as he plans to silence the doubters and prove he is the lightweight champ.
“There are still people who doubt me,” Oliveira says. “Everyone who bets on me makes a lot of money, but there are still those who don’t believe it yet. I’m here to prove people wrong. That’s what will happen, again, against Makhachev. The belt is mine. That isn’t going to change.”
Oliveira is coming off the win over Gaethej and prior to that, submitted Dustin Poirier and knocked out Michael Chandler to win the vacant belt.
