Former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson has taken aim at Charles Oliveira for his training technique that contributed to him being forced out of UFC 294.
As we now know, Charles Oliveira will not be competing against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 for the UFC middleweight championship.
Disaster struck for the Brazilian this week, however, when a cut sustained in training forced his withdrawal. In his place has stepped featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski, who will make his second attempt at dethroning Makhachev of the year.
In terms of what’s next, ‘Do Bronx’ will likely spend time recovering from his injury before once again pursuing a crack at the belt. Whether or not he’ll get it immediately, though, remains to be seen.
Josh Thomson is one of many who has had an opinion on what’s happened in the last week, and he made his views clear during a recent podcast appearance.
Josh Thomson questions Charles Oliveira
“He wasn’t wearing headgear. Stupid, stupid,” Thomson said. “Look, headgear is not to protect you from getting knocked out, it’s to protect you from getting cut. I don’t understand. When I spent the money on that really expensive headgear that had the bigger cheek pads, more of the frame, went down more around my chin, it was just to avoid getting cuts.
“The reason why people get cut more towards the end of camp is because they don’t fight the same way at the end of camp because they’re concerned, like, ‘Next week’s the fight. I’m just gonna chill.’ They’re not being overly aggressive, so they’re one second behind, and that leaves their head in a position it wouldn’t normally be in,” Thomson continued. “Why are we doing a shark tank right before? You’re obviously in shape.”
UFC CEO Dana White was also critical of Charles Oliveira’s team for not coming to them sooner. Nevertheless, the promotion will now move forward with a new headliner that has been well received throughout the mixed martial arts community.
Charles Oliveira, meanwhile, will be hoping that he can step in the cage with the lightweight gold on the line upon his return to action.
