UFC President, Dana White has confirmed that he agrees with the thought that former undisputed lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira will become the greatest lightweight of all time should he recapture the throne this weekend at UFC 280 in his vacant title showdown against Islam Makhachev.
Riding a breathtaking 12-fight winning spree into his Octagon return this weekend at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE – Oliveira will attempt to become a two-time undisputed lightweight champion, having seeing his champion status stripped back in May.
Headlining UFC 274 against former interim gold holder, Justin Gaethje, Oliveira missed weight by just half a pound for the clash, resulting in his stripping as undisputed champion.
However, turning in consecutive victory number 12 against the Arizona native in enemy territory, Oliveira survived a pair of early knockdowns to finish Gaethje with a first round rear-naked choke in Phoenix.
Charles Oliveira tipped to become lightweight GOAT with Saturday win over Islam Makhachev
Turning in splendid performance after splendid performance the last two years, Sao Paulo native, Oliveira has defeated the likes of Tony Ferguson, Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, and the aforenoted, Gaethje consecutively en route to his title tangle with Makhachev.
And according to White, a win over the Dagestan grappler would likely see him overtake Khabib Nurmagomedov as the greatest lightweight of all time – before suggesting a future fight between the duo.
“Yeah, that’s absolutely correct,” Dana White told Jose Youngs of MMA Fighting when discussing Charles Oliveira’s claim to GOAT status with a win over Islam Makhachev.
“I agree with that 100 per cent. And the only thing to do for Charles Oliveira – the only way to settle it would be for Khabib Nurmagomedov to come out of retirement, and then fight Oliveira if that happens, so. Let’s hope we can make that happen.”
Oliveira enters this weekend’s clash against Makhachev as the most prolific submission artist in the history of the UFC, as well as amassing the most total finishes in the antiquity of the Octagon.
