Charles Oliveira targets quickfire return after UFC 300, rematch fight with Max Holloway: 'It would be wonderful'
04/17/2024 05:19 PM
Planning a hasty return to action off the back of his close, contentious split decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan over the weekend at UFC 300, former lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira has expressed his interest in a re-run with newly-minted BMF titleholder, Max Holloway in the future.
Oliveira, a former undisputed lightweight kingpin, who slipped to number two in the official lightweight pile over the course of the weekend, found himself on the wrong side of a close, debated split judging (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) defeat to Armenia native, Tsarukyan failed to lock up a slew of close submission attempts in each round.
And arguing his case for a potential victory on the judge's scorecards against the newly-ranked number one contender, Oliveira claimed that his active in hunting for submissions should likely have gotten him the nod in a close back-and-forth.
"I had to finish him," Charles Oliveira explained during an interview with Canal Encarada. "It went to the judges, and it's their call, there's nothing we can do. If you go back tot the first round, you'll see I tired to finish him more and they scored it for me. The second one was closer and I ended up with a triangle choke locked in, and they gave it to him. The third, he was on top, holding me there, but wasn't doing Jiu-Jitsu or anything, and I finished with a choke locked in, and they still have it to him. There's not much we can do."
And in terms of an ideal return time – it's as soon as possible according to Sao Paulo finisher, Oliveira, who also noted his interest in sharing the Octagon with the above-mentioned, Holloway in the future – who himself turned in a viral, buzzer-beating KO win over common-foe, Justin Gaethje.
Charles Oliveira weighs up Max Holloway rematch
"We don't need to get desperate," Charles Oliveira explained. "I want to come back as soon as possible. Of course, a fight with Max Holloway would be wonderful, but he will definitely go back to his weight class to fight for the 145 [pound] title. Justin Gaethje hurt his nose, so we have to think."
First fighting Holloway atop a UFC Fight Night Saskatoon main event back in 2015, Oliveira saw a four-fight unbeaten streak come to an end in unique circumstances, suffering a first round TKO loss after he injured his esophagus during a scramble at the Octagon fence.
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