Diego Lima, the coach of UFC BMF champion Charles Oliveira, revealed his potential next opponent inside the Octagon.
Oliveira has not competed since March at UFC 326, when he defeated Max Holloway to capture the UFC BMF title.
He was supposed to fight Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331 in a No. 1 contender bout in the UFC lightweight division, but following the death of teammate Allan Nascimento, Oliveira understandably withdrew from that bout. Mauricio Ruffy is now filling in.
Now that he’s back in training, he is hoping to get his next fight booked, and his coach at Chute Boxe, Diego Lima, has some ideas.
Coach Next Potential Next Foe for Charles Oliveira
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Lima suggested some potential names for Oliveira’s next fight in the UFC.
“Arman, regardless of the outcome, is a strong name, so he’s a very interesting option. Diego Lopes is moving up, but he’s a guy who has fought for the title twice, he’s a guy who sells well, he’s explosive, so he would be an exceptional name in the division. Why not? ‘Oh, but it doesn’t make sense, it would be his first fight in the division?’ Man, you have to understand that these are fights that take us somewhere. There’s no point in thinking about fighting a guy who is very important, but doesn’t sell and doesn’t take us anywhere,” Lima said.
“Arman is an interesting name. Lopes, why not? He’s interesting too. He’s moving up, he’s fought for the title twice. He’s an aggressive fighter. He’s definitely going to sell. At the same time, we want the title. That’s our ultimate goal. The title. We’ll wait. Otherwise, we want to work. And some fights pay more, some fights pay less. We weigh everything up.”
Charles Oliveira Wants to Fight ASAP
According to Lima, Oliveira wants to fight ASAP.
“He doesn’t want to be inactive for too long. Obviously, if they tell us that a title shot in April is guaranteed, then of course we’ll wait. But he wants to work, so I believe that maybe in about 15 days we’ll start some negotiations,” Lims said.
Coach of Charles Oliveira Reveals Potential Next UFC Opponent