Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira had a backstage encounter after the UFC 284 main event at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
Going into his headliner clash against Alexander Volkanovski, Islam Makhachev looked to defend the lightweight title that he won against Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 last October. The lightweight successfully retained his strap with a unanimous decision win over ‘The Great’, slightly marred by controversy.
Makhachev had a heartwarming exchange with former opponent Oliveira in the aftermath of his UFC 284 victory. ‘Do Bronx’ conveyed a few words to the Dagestani through a translator before they both shook hands and hugged it out.
Catch the moment below:
While Oliveira and Makhachev never had a personal feud, there was some mutual animosity leading up to their UFC 280 clash. ‘Do Bronx’ complained about feeling disrespected by Makhachev’s team, while the latter denied showing any smugness. However, the rivalry between Makhachev and Oliveira, personal or otherwise, seems to have died down now.
The Brazilian is now reportedly set to clash against Beneil Dariush at UFC 288.
What was Charles Oliveira’s prediction for Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski?
Despite being the No.1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Alexander Volkanovski was a sizeable underdog going into his fight against the No.2-ranked Islam Makhachev.
Charles Oliveira scored a knockdown on Makhachev at UFC 280 before dropping an almost one-sided loss. Having shared the octagon with Makhachev, Oliveira feared an early knockout loss for the Dagestani.
However, ‘do Bronx’ predicted the lightweight champ to win if Volkanovski failed to stuff his takedowns early on. Oliveira told CrashMMA:
“They’re two great fighters. Alexander is a guy that defends takedowns well. He hits, he kicks very hard. On the other side, Islam has very good takedowns. When he gets you down, he puts on the pressure. My concern with Islam is that on the feet when I up-kicked him, he ate it and sat down. He went limp.”
He added:
“I think Islam wins, but if Volkanovski defends the takedowns in the first round and connects with the hands…”
Catch Oliveira’s comments below:
