Charles Oliveira dismissed rumors of a matchup against No.6-ranked lightweight Rafael Fiziev, citing his need for a break.
MMA Uncensored reported that the UFC is looking to match the two lightweights for its upcoming pay-per-view event in Brazil on January 22 next year.
‘Do Bronx’ quoted the tweet and denied the reports:
“Not gonna happen. I need a break. Thank you guys!”
Check out his tweet below:
The former champion looked distraught after failing to reclaim his lightweight belt against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280. Oliveira has promised fans that he will come back stronger and will want to reset before he gets back to training.
Rafael Fiziev also addressed the rumor by quoting Charles Oliveira’s tweet and wishing him the best:
“Enjoy well deserved rest champ [fist pump emoji]”
Check out his tweet below:
Fiziev is currently on a six-fight win streak in the UFC with three knockout wins in his last four fights. His most recent win came against Rafael dos Anjos, where he headlined UFC on ESPN 39. Fiziev’s impressive run of form has also included a performance bonus in each of his last five fights with three Performance of the Night and two Fight of the Night bonuses.
Prominent journalist Ariel Helwani agreed that it would be a great match between the two but denied reporting any such rumors, effectively ruling out chances of a bout.
Check out Helwani’s reply to MMA Uncensored:
Chael Sonnen suggests Charles Oliveira should fight Beneil Dariush
Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen suggested a different matchup for Charles Oliveira. After stating that a title rematch for Oliveira is unlikely with Alexander Volkanovski primed to fight Islam Makhachev next, Sonnen suggested No.4-ranked Beneil Dariush as a potential opponent.
‘The Bad Guy’ said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel:
“Yesterday, I sat here, and I told you. I think we need to do Chandler and Poirier and give a real good look at drawing that into Benny. But I’ve had a day to think about my own idea. Is Benny vs. Oliveira the fight to make? Because one thing that hasn’t been discussed is what do you do with Charles.”
Dariush last fought on the same card as Charles Oliveira and impressively defeated Mateusz Gamrot via unanimous decision. However, he did not call for a title shot despite his eight-fight win streak and cited that he was content to fight the best in the division and wait for his deserving championship fight.
Check out Chael Sonnen’s full comments on YouTube: