Coach Ray Longo admits he’s not too hyped for the rematch between UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira.
Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) will run things back with Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) 2 in the UFC 294 headliner, which takes place Oct. 21 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Less than a year ago, Makhachev ran through Oliveira with a second-round submission at UFC 280, and Longo doesn’t see their rematch going any differently.
He would have rather seen featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski get his rematch after he took Makhachev to the brink at UFC 284.
“Unfortunately I think it’s the same problem we have with a lot of divisions,” Longo said in a recent episode of the “Anik & Florian Podcast.” “I think Charles could beat everybody but this guy. Honestly, I haven’t thought about, I think it’s the same fight. Maybe a minute longer or whatever, but I think it’s the exact same fight and I don’t know, for some reason I’m not even excited about the fight. I would have rather have seen somebody else in there.”
Longo wants to give Oliveira the benefit of the doubt after he claimed that he wasn’t himself in the first Makhachev fight. Oliveira has since rebounded with a first-round TKO of Beneil Dariush and holds finishes over Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Michael Chandler.
Longo points to Aljamain Sterling’s performance against Petr Yan at UFC 259, where he was en route to losing the fight before getting hit with an illegal knee and capturing the bantamweight title via disqualification.
Sterling said he had an upset stomach, which affected his performance, and was able to put on a much better showing in their rematch at UFC 273 where he retained his belt.
“After the first Yan fight, remember Aljo (Sterling) said he didn’t eat right, for whatever reason,” Longo said. “He’s been in the game a long time but maybe it was the main event, the timing of the nutrients was wrong, but I remember sitting down with him months later going, ‘Are you telling me the truth?’ Because if you’re not telling the truth, we’ve got to make some corrections.
“But if you are telling me the truth, that you didn’t really feel good, then it’s a different story. We can go, well I like what I saw, and he said, ‘I swear to God, I’m really telling you the truth.’ So, if Oliveira is saying the same thing and his coaches had a talk with him and it’s really true, then it’s a different fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.
