Following his loss at UFC 280 this past Saturday, Charles Oliveira issued an emotional statement addressing what went wrong and apologized to those who have always supported him.
The Brazilian headed into his lightweight title bout with complete confidence that he would get the job done as he had for the 11 fights prior, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Despite being known for his grappling, Islam Makhachev’s striking performance fired him to victory, paving the way for him to lock in the arm triangle submission.
In a video posted after his defeat, Charles Oliveira shed praise on Islam Makhachev for becoming champion, thanked everyone for the messages he has received, and announced his plan to “conquer once again” upon his return.
“I just wanted to pass by here to send out a message and simply apologize. I believe that everything I did in training was done right, including the weight cut, but yesterday I wasn’t able to find myself in the fight. Yesterday, Islam was better than I was in terms of timing and did an overall better fight, coming out as champion… Thank you so much to all the people that have sent me both positive and negative messages… I’ll go home and I’ll dedicate myself, training, and conquer once again.”
‘Do Bronx’ began the fight like any other, pressuring Makhachev back towards the cage and trying to catch him with strikes. In what could be considered a flawless victory, the Russian proved himself on the feet by catching his opponent in the first round and dropping him before getting the finish midway through the second.
Check out Charles Oliveira’s heartfelt message in the aftermath of UFC 280 in the video below:
Where does Charles Oliveira go from here?
With his 11-fight win streak coming to an end, Oliveira must get himself another win before he re-enters title contention, but who will he face next to earn him that chance?
It looks almost certain that Islam Makhachev will make his first defense of the lightweight title against Alexander Volkanovski, which leaves the stacked division of contenders all waiting for a shot at UFC gold.
One standout who is currently unbeaten in his last eight fights is Beneil Dariush. Despite looking like a clear challenger for the 155-pound strap, he is once again being looked over and could be a fantastic matchup against Oliveira to see who should be given the next title matchup.
