- Paul Felder puts the responsibility on Charles Oliveira for missing weight
- Felder praised Oliveira for a stellar performance to beat Justin Gaethje this past weekend
This past weekend, Charles Oliveira made history when he became the first champion to lose his belt on the weighing scales. Former UFC lightweight competitor Paul Felder had weighed in on the issue and clarified his thoughts on the situation. Ahead of what was originally scheduled to be a title defense, Oliveira came in half a pound heavier than the championship limit. Despite the early setback, Oliveira dispatched Justin Gaethje in incredible fashion to secure a statement win.
Paul Felder comments on Charles Oliveira missing weight
UFC color commentator Paul Felder is no stranger to cutting weight having competed in the lightweight division in the promotion. ‘The Irish Dragon’ has been out of competition since his last outing against Rafael dos Anjos in November 2020.
As someone who competes in the same division as Charles Oliveira, Felder has the right experience to understand the situation better. In a recent interview with MMA on SiriusXM, Paul Felder clarified his thoughts on the 32-year-old Brazilian coming in one half of a pound over the limit.
"Really I'm just upset for the division and upset for him, himself."
Paul Felder (@felderpaul) clarifies his comments on Charles Oliveira missing weight and praises his #UFC274 performance.
👇 FULL convo w/ @RyanMcKinnell & @AndreasHale available now!https://t.co/oiXIxGcyQU pic.twitter.com/wTtpD48Tbp
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) May 11, 2022
“I think anybody that’s really struggled to make weight in their career, and really put everything into it knows that a lot of excuses get tossed around but I know there was controversy with the calibrating scale. All that kinda came out after the fact when I did those tirades, if you will, of being upset but I still think it was really foolish of him. I think he really only shot himself in the foot at the end of the day because he had an unbelievable performance”
“He should be the champion today. We should have without a doubt, absolute lightweight champion. Instead, we have a no. 1 contender”
“Really, I’m just upset for the division and upset for himself”
“I do hate weight misses, I don’t care if it’s an ounce.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdZy3eYOKGY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
What’s next for Oliveira?
Oliveira was stripped of his title as soon as he set a foot inside the cage to take on Justin Gaethje. While ‘Highlight’ was eligible to become the new UFC lightweight champion, ‘do Bronx’ could only come out as the top contender if he won. His finish of Gaethje in the first round sent a message to the entire weight class.
Islam Makhachev has been demanding a title shot for many months and has seen support from Khabib Nurmagomedov. UFC president Dana White had mentioned that Makhachev will need to take on Beneil Dariush in his next fight to compete for the promotional gold. However, White also stated that the company is not sure about that fight following UFC 274.
With nobody laying claim to the strap officially, the only thing that’s certain is that Oliveira will face the next challenger in an attempt to get his belt back. It could be Michael Chandler as well who called him out after his vicious knockout of Tony Ferguson on the same night.
