Are the top lightweight fighters avoiding Charles Oliveira?
Following his devastating loss to Paul Felder at UFC 218, the Brazilian adjusted his game plan and has managed to the rack up seven big wins against top names such as Clay Guida, Kevin Lee, and Jared Gordon. Oliveira’s hard work has gotten him into the No. 6 spot of the division; however, the 30-year-old appears to be stuck in that position at the moment.
Oliveira will step into the octagon against Beneil Dariush at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Aldana, but the lightweight reveals to Combate that he’s been unable to secure a bout against a top five competitor in the division due to them being in their little club who only fights each other:
“Here’s the thing: those top five are in their little club, they only fight each other,” Oliveira said. “That way, they’ll surely stay in the top 5. They give you no chance. One of them is injured, another can’t fight, another one won’t fight. How can that be? That’s unreal. You have to fight. If you don’t want to fight, get out of the way.
If you’re injured, I get you. If you’re having family problems, I get you. If you just fought, I get you. But Dustin Poirier fought a few months ago and now is saying he only wants to fight next year so he can keep on loving the sport. I don’t get that. Dan Hooker fought Dustin Poirier and lost. Where is he? He never fought again. The same goes for Tony Ferguson. I get Justin Gaethje, he waited to fight Khabib for the belt in October. Conor McGregor, is he coming back or not? So they’re all in their little club and don’t fight anybody.”
Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, Conor McGregor, and Dan Hooker currently occupy the top five spots in the division and Oliveira says that he’s been offered matches against some these names, but the respective fights have been turned down:
“They offer me a bunch of names and none of them want to fight me,” he said. “Some guys show up on media calling me out, saying a bunch of stuff, but when things get real, they run way. That’s the truth. There are guys who were called to fight me, did not accept and now have another fight booked. Those things make no sense.
I won’t name names. Here’s the thing: everyone is chasing the same goal, to win the belt. Sooner or later we’ll have to fight. If they’re afraid to fight me now, they’ll be even more scared later on. Every day that passes, I feel better, stronger, more ready. The UFC sent me some names that were above me and asked me if I would fight them. I accepted on the spot. But when it was time for the other fighters to answer, they didn’t accept. So there’s not much I can do other than wait.”
As of this writing, none of the top five names in the division have responded to Oliveira’s statement. Conor McGregor is currently enjoying retirement so it’s highly unlikely that the fighter will get back into the octagon anytime soon.