Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira targets a rematch with fan favorite Dustin Poirier.
Oliveira is coming off a lopsided defeat to reigning 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev in his last outing in Oct. at UFC 280. Makhachev put in a dominant performance and handily dispatched ‘do Bronx’ in round two with an arm triangle submission to become the new king of the division.
Following the loss, Oliveira had the chance to rematch Makhachev next month at UFC 283, but he reportedly declined. He indicated plans to keep on the sidelines after turning in one of the most exciting runs in the promotion that saw him face each of the top five ranked fighters in the lightweight division.
“[The] UFC knew how much Charles wanted to fight in Brazil and kept their offer, but the time to recover was really short,” Diego Lima, head coach of Oliveira, told Sherdog. “We had a meeting with the whole team and decided it was too short a time. He came from four wars in 17 months [against Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Makhachev] against all top five, [one] war after another, so we decided that it was time for Charles to rest and recover his body and mind to return 100%.”
Oliveira Is Interested in Fighting Poirier Again
According to coach Lima, a rematch with former interim lightweight champion Poirier would make sense before another crack at the title.
“For everything Charles did in the last two years, he deserves to fight for the belt next [against] the winner of Volkanovski and Islam. Our priority is not revenge, but to get the belt back. Charles is still the number one in the ranking, if the UFC wants him to make another fight before the title dispute, Beneil Dariush or a rematch with Poirier would be more fair. Fiziev is very tough but he is the 6th in the ranking, wouldn’t make sense now.”
Oliveira defended the title successfully against Poirier in Dec. 2021 at UFC 269. Poirier came out firing from the get-go and scored a knockdown of ‘do Bronx.’ However, Oliveira recovered quickly and submitted the Louisiana bruiser by a rear-naked choke submission in the third round.
Lima Argues Oliveira Was Not on His Best Day at UFC 280
Oliveira went into the contest against Makhachev on a commanding 11-fight win streak that saw him evolve into the most lethal finisher ever in the UFC. However, he was not able to keep it competitive inside the octagon with the Dagestani fighter, who had no prior top-five opponent experience.
Lima theorized that Oliveira did not display his best form in the match with Makhachev. Without discrediting Makhachev’s showing, Lima argued a rematch would not go down in the same fashion.
“I don’t want to take any merit from Makhachev, but Charles was not on his best day,” the coach admitted. “I have no doubt when they face each other again, the result will be different. The only certainty I have is that they will fight again, something pretty common in the top of lightweight division.”
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Rematch With UFC Bruiser ‘Fair’ for Charles Oliveira To Get Title Shot