Islam Makhachev’s manager is critisising Charles Oliveira’s fight camp.
Much has been said about the upcoming UFC 280 main event between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. Both men are at the top of their game and both are extremely skilled on the mat. Both fighters have multiple submission victories under their belts and many believe that this bout could come down to who has the better ground skills.
Makhachev is known as a Sambo wrestler, much like his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov. He is able to take opponents down and smother them until they tap. He also has great ground-and-pound skills that wreak havoc on his opponents. Oliveira is also amazing on the ground. He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and when fighters go to the ground with him they are often drowned in his grappling game. For this bout, Oliveira has added to his arsenal by bringing in some wrestling help. He has added Alireza Noei as his wrestling coach to combat the style of Makhachev. In the eyes of Makhachev’s team, this is a mistake.
Ali Abdelaziz thinks Charles Oliveira is making a mistake by changing his game
Makhachev’s manager is the well-known Ali Abdelaziz. He is notorious in the fight game for both representing the biggest fighters in the sport and his hot takes on social media. Now he has spoken out about Oliveira’s training camp and the chances of him beating his client.
“I humbly, respect Charles Oliveira, I respect his team. I think Islam is gonna dominate him. I don’t think it’s going to be even a close fight, on paper. The only way Charles Oliveira can win if you catch him was the lucky punch,” he said in an interview with ESPN.
Abdelaziz thinks that Oliveira should not be changing his game and that he should instead be focused on the skills he has already, the skills that got him to the UFC lightweight title, to begin with. Despite this fact, he is confident in his client, and he knows that Makhachev will dominate if it comes to wrestling.
“I think like Charles Oliveira, you don’t change what got you here, right? Charles Oliveira what got him here, he’s reckless, he’s spontaneous, and now, he learned how to wrestle,” he said. “And I think Macaco was a great coach, his striker is a great coach and I think the biggest mistake they did they brought in a wrestling coach. And I think you want to wrestle? Let’s wrestle.”
On Saturday in Abu Dhabi, both fighters will have their chance to prove themself to be the best in the lightweight division. Whether it comes to jiu-jitsu, wrestling, striking, or any combination of these, the fans will be watching in awe as two of the best at 155 pounds battle it out to gain the UFC gold belt.
