Charles Oliveira delivered his prediction for UFC 284’s highly-anticipated champion vs. champion showdown.
On February 11th, newly crowned UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will defend his title for the first time against the current featherweight titleholder and No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Alexander Volkanovski. ‘Do Bronx’ shared his thoughts on the headliner during an interview with CrashMMA on YouTube.
“They’re two great fighters. Alexander is a guy that defends takedowns well. He hits, he kicks very hard. On the other side, Islam has very good takedowns. When he gets you down, he puts on the pressure. My concern with Islam is that on the feet when I up-kicked him, he ate it and sat down. He went limp.
“I think Islam wins, but if Volkanovski defends the takedowns in the first round and connects with the hands…”
Charles Oliveira saw his own 11-fight win streak snapped at the hands of Makhachev when they met in the UFC 280 main event in October. Makhachev shocked fans watching around the world when he submitted the most prolific submission specialist in UFC history, capturing the 155-pound title in the process.
Charles Oliveira Would Stick to the Same Game Plan in Potential Rematch With Islam Makhachev
Despite coming up short against the Dagestani destroyer in October, Charles Oliveira has no regrets over the bout and simply chalks it up to a bad night at the office.
“Against Makhachev, I didn’t feel any pressure,” Oliveira said in an interview with Super Lutas. “He was just better than me. I haven’t watched that fight back yet. It doesn’t make any difference to me. It wasn’t a bad night, it was just 15 bad minutes. Ten to 20 bad minutes. There’s nothing else to say. You know I always tell the truth. I already thought about it, but there’s no real explanation.”
Should the two meet again inside the Octagon, ‘Do Bronx’ would confidently go into it with the same game plan he hoped to execute in their UFC 280 clash.
“I wouldn’t change anything in a rematch,” he declared. “I know how much I trained. As far as the fight goes, what can I say other than that Islam was better than me. I wouldn’t change the camp nor the weight cut, I wouldn’t change absolutely anything. I don’t know exactly what happened, but Islam was better than me on that night” (h/t MMAMania)
Charles Oliveira reflects on the Makhachev fight. #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/241TtRuKUZ
— 𝙼𝙼𝙰 𝙼𝙰𝙵𝙸𝙰♞ (@MMA_MAF1A) December 22, 2022
