Charles Olivera vs. Rafael Fiziev is off UFC Rio.
The former UFC Lightweight Champion was scheduled for a quick turn around on October 11th, but that may no longer be the case as Rafael Fiziev has been pulled from the upcoming bout due to injury.
Oliveira is coming off a big loss against IIia Topuria at UFC 317 that eliminated him from Lightweight title contention. Oliveira is currently ranked as no. 4 in the division. His professional record is 35 wins and 11 losses.
Fiziev is coming off an impressive win over Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC on ABC: Hill vs. Rountree Jr. Fiziev is currently ranked at no. 10 within the division. His professional record stands at 13 wins and 4 losses.
As of this writing, Oliveira isn’t off the card as the UFC is scrambling to find a new lightweight for him to face. Though the company hasn’t been successful thus far. The former UFC Lightweight Champion voiced his frustration over fighters not stepping in for UFC Rio.
“Everybody knows my UFC Rio fight is off,” Oliveira said on Instagram Stories, “But don’t fall for the talk of these guys out there [saying] ‘I’m here, I’ll go,’ because the UFC is calling and they’re all saying, ‘Oh, there’s not enough time to make weight. Oh, I can’t.’ They’re posting this on the internet to get hype.
“Stop it, it’s not a good look. I saw one saying this, another saying that, but when the UFC calls, what do they say? ‘Oh, I can’t. I got belly ache. I broke a finger. I hurt my hand.’ Enough with that, it’s not a good look.”
It’s not clear who Oliveira is talking about. Though one fighter did state he’s willing to step up and face Charles in his hometown.
Of course, we’ll see if that match comes to fruition. Below is the updated fight card. We’ll keep you updated when the new main event is confirmed.
UFC Rio Main Card On ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):
155 lbs.: Charles Oliveira vs. ???
265 lbs.: Vitor Petrino vs. Thomas Petersen
115 lbs.: Julia Polastri vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
170 lbs.: Vicente Luque vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
135 lbs.: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Montel Jackson
170 lbs.: Gabriel Bonfim vs. Randy Brown
UFC Rio ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: Lucas Rocha vs. Stewart Nicoll
265 lbs.: Jhonata Diniz vs. Mario Pinto
135 lbs.: Irina Alekseeva vs. Beatriz Mesquita
125 lbs.: Jafel Filho vs. Clayton Carpenter
155 lbs.: Lucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell
145 lbs.: Ricardo Ramos vs. Kaan Ofli
265 lbs.: Valter Walker vs. Mohammed Usman