Charles Oliveira has been advised to keep on bad-mouthing Conor McGregor in the hopes of securing a fight against the UFC star.
Oliveira, 33, recently claimed that former two-weight UFC champion McGregor is a "chicken" that "handpicks" his opponents. 'Do Bronx' had been pushing for a fight against McGregor before he lost the lightweight title to Islam Makachev last October, with the Brazilian even considering vacating his title to secure a fight against the UFC's biggest attraction.
McGregor is expected to book his return fight in the coming months and he is also interested in coaching the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. UFC legend Daniel Cormier thinks Oliveira has lost his value to McGregor as he is no longer champion, but he should keep pressing the Irishman's buttons to try and get a big-money fight against him.
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"I really believe that for Charles Oliveira now, the belt was the one thing that made him valuable to Conor because Conor thought, 'This is a guy that strikes, this is a guy that can be hurt, this is a guy that holds the championship so I want to fight that dude.' When you talk about star power and risk management, you ain't looking to fight 'Do Bronx' if it ain't for something so grand like a championship," Cormier said on his YouTube channel.
"If he really does want an opportunity, I think Oliveira needs to talk more about McGregor and be more insulting about McGregor and talk about all the issues that McGregor has. From the issue with the bus, from the issue to the fight with the man in the pub to the issue that he's going through now. 'Do Bronx', get personal, get nasty if you want to cash that check."
Oliveira will likely need to move up a weight class if he wants to fight McGregor as 'Notorious' is set to compete at 170lb in his comeback fight. McGregor hasn't responded to many of Oliveira's call-outs and 'Do Bronx' claims he asked the UFC to make a fight between him and the Irishman "plenty of times".
“There are no fools here, everybody knows we want this fight because he’ll give us a lot of money, but I do think he’s a guy that needs to be hyped,” Oliveira said. “I’ve asked for this fight plenty of times and he never says anything. I’ll be ready to fight him the day he wants, but I won’t call him out anymore.”
