Ahead of his UFC 300 fight against Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira’s coach admits that there’s one man who could completely alter their lightweight title plans.
Whilst former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira is certainly not looking past UFC 300 and the incredibly dangerous Arman Tsarukyan, it sounds as if the team behind ‘do Bronx’ are already thinking about ways to send the Brazilian’s popularity into superstardom – teasing that a mega-fight with Conor McGregor could be closer than we thought.
Conor McGregor messaged Charles Oliveira ‘telling him to wait’
Speaking to MMAFighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Charles Oliveira’s coach Diego Lima revealed that when ‘do Bronx’ held the lightweight world championship, McGregor had actually messaged him privately with a special request.
“Before Makhachev, McGregor texted [Charles Oliveira] telling him to wait, not to fight him. They exchanged direct messages, McGregor sent him a video training and running at the beach.”
Yet ‘Notorious’ runs on his own schedule, as demonstrated by Michael Chandler’s patience in waiting for an official contract to be signed – and that’s exactly why Oliveira’s team didn’t take the call seriously.
“If we had waited for him, how long would that have been? We’d be three years with no fights already. We can’t wait [that long], we need work,” said Lima, who hasn’t given up on the chance of facing the Irishman after UFC 300 in April.
“McGregor has made history, what this guy has accomplished is gigantic…Look at the records he breaks, it’s incredible what he does. So, a fight with him would be incredible, of course, it would. Professionally speaking, it would be incredible.”
So incredible, that Lima even admitted that they would be willing to forgo the opportunity to face Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title next, should that opportunity present itself later in the year.
Charles Oliveira’s coach admits Conor McGregor could force a title shot delay
Whilst Lima acknowledged that chasing ‘Red Panty Night’ is typically a surefire way to remain stagnant on the sidelines for months or even years at a time, the veteran coach explained that they’d be willing to delay a title fight against Islam Makhachev to get that chance.
“If we had the opportunity to fight McGregor at welterweight after this fight, we would fight McGregor. But how about the belt? Ok, we’ll fight for the belt after that, God willing.”
“We know that with McGregor, the creature has become bigger than the creator,” said Lima, before adding “We know that if the opportunity came, [since] McGregor already considered this fight, if we really had this opportunity, that’s the one we want.”
The Chute Box head coach also noted that “It’s not that it’s more than the belt,” but that defeating such a superstar would guarantee another shot at current king Islam Makhachev:
“The belt is a certainty after beating McGregor. No way we beat McGregor and don’t fight for the belt next. It’s one after the other, I thought we would fight McGregor and then for the belt…And McGregor wants to fight [International] Fight Week, so who knows…but one fight at a time.”
Whilst a super-fight between Oliveira and McGregor would certainly land as one of the highest-selling PPVs in UFC history, Lima understands they can’t be looking past such a dangerous and hungry prospect as Tsarukyan.
Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan takes place on the main card of UFC 300, scheduled for April 13 in Las Vegas.