Charles Oliveira

Charles Oliveira hoping for Islam Makhachev rematch by end of 2023

After losing his belt in his last fight, former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira is hoping for an Islam Makhachev rematch by the end of 2023.

Oliveira was submitted by Makhachev at UFC 278 last October in Abu Dhabi, losing the UFC lightweight title in the process. Despite the loss to Makhachev, the Brazilian doesn’t think he is that far away from fighting for the belt again. In fact, he thinks one more win against a top contender would get him right back into the title picture at 155lbs.

Speaking to the fans ahead of UFC 283 in a Q&A session, Oliveira said his plan is to fight once in May in the United States and then fight for the belt by the end of the year in his native Brazil.

“We have to aim high. Maybe fight in the United States in May and then come back to fighting in Brazil by the end of the year — if it’s in Sao Paulo, even better — and who knows, maybe fight for the belt again. That would be great,” Oliveira said (via MMAFighting.com). With all due respect, I had 10 minutes off on a bad night (at UFC 278). I wouldn’t change anything to fight Islam Makhachev. This fight will happen again. Be sure of that, this fight will happen. I’ll fight in April or May, no matter who that is, and God will bless me with a win, and I’ll have my rematch with Islam Makhachev by the end of the year.”

Makhachev is fighting Alex Volkanovski at UFC 284 next month. Should he win that fight, then a rematch against Oliveira later in the year makes sense, especially if Oliveira is able to pick up  a win in the meantime against a top contender such as Beneil Dariush, for instance.

Do you think Charles Oliveira will end up fighting Islam Makhachev by the end of 2023?

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Adam Martin
MMA journalist, podcast host, and handicapper for MyMMANews.com, MMAoddsbreaker.com, and Bookies.com. MMAOB Daily Podcast host. Join me LIVE @ 5 pm EST every Monday for my live free podcast. Over 10 years of experience writing about MMA. I love this sport.