Charles Oliveira open to ‘big fight’ at welterweight after UFC 300 loss: ‘Why not?’
Charles Oliveira is both anxious to fight again and ready to negotiate his UFC next move.
The former UFC lightweight champion lost a close split decision to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 earlier this month in Las Vegas, then returned home to be close to his family and “rest my mind, spirit, and body” before booking another fight. “Do Bronx” doesn’t want to waste too much time on the sidelines, though.
“I left [Las Vegas] asking for another fight right away,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “I want to fight as early as possible. I had two or three stitches over my eye but that’s gone already. I have no injuries whatsoever. I’m ready to fight again as soon as the UFC calls me. Of course, I don’t have anything to prove to anyone and everybody knows my history in the UFC, so there’s no point accepting fights with the No. 8 or 10 in the division. I want to fight people who are ahead of me. That’s why we have to wait and think, analyze the next step we’ll take. My managers and coaches will analyze that.”
Oliveira already returned to the gym to train and will fly to Rio de Janeiro to corner his Chute Boxe teammate Elves Brener against Myktybek Orolbai at UFC 301 on May 4.
“Do Bronx” expressed interested in a rematch with Justin Gaethje, who also lost at UFC 300, however the former BMF titleholder announced plans to take “six months, at least, before I get back to taking shots” following his brutal knockout defeat against Max Holloway.
“He’s not wrong,” said Oliveira, who submitted Gaethje back in 2022. “You don’t have to fight to show off to people or anything like that, you have to fight when you’re well. [Taking time off is] not my idea, I want to fight way earlier than that, so [waiting for Gaethje] doesn’t align with what I’m planning on doing.”
“There’s so much going on [at lightweight now],” he continued. “Conor [McGregor] and Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev, fights that are about to happen soon, so I don’t want to rush things. I just fought, it was recent. I have no injuries but everybody knows that a camp is a camp. I want to take it slow, no craziness, to do things the right way.”
With Gaethje unavailable and the lightweight division loaded with big fights in June, Oliveira said he’s open to moving up to welterweight if it makes sense for all parties involved.
“Why not?” Oliveira said. “Why not take a fight that will lead us to money and history and legacy? We have to think about it and talk to the organization. Why not move up in weight and do a big fight? A fight that makes sense and gives us money? Why not?”
Oliveira said he didn’t watch his Tsarukyan loss and doesn’t plan on doing it because “I don’t even watch the ones I won.” He won’t argue against the judges, either.
“I had the best opportunities to finish the fight but they decided to give the other side the win,” Oliveira said. “Many people say, ‘The victory was yours.’ I have nothing to say. If I wanted the victory to be mine, I should have knocked him out or submitted him. When it goes to a decision, it’s kind of complicated. But I had the best opportunities to finish the fight and they gave [Tsarukyan] the victory, so there’s nothing I can do.
“There’s no point complaining about something that won’t change. The result won’t change. Many people gave me the win just like many people said I lost. A lot of people will talk crap online like they always do, of course, but it won’t change. That only fuels me to work harder. I know how hard I worked to get where I got and put on that fight.”
That being said, the ex-champ sees what he could’ve done to prevent a judges’ decision.
“I could have been more aggressive, walked forward and pushed the pace on the feet,” Oliveira said. “I shouldn’t have waited that long on the ground, I could have battled and moved more. In my eyes, I think I won the first round pretty clearly. I lost the second round. The third was the closest one. Everything I say here will be controversial, but that’s the reality. If you watch it, he took me down, but what did he do? He did nothing. He just laid there, quietly. I was trying to submit him. I won’t create any controversy here, I won’t whine about it and say I won or lost. The result is that and there’s nothing I can do.”