Charles Oliveira has reiterated his desire to fight Conor McGregor next, saying a ‘profitable’ clash with his fellow former UFC champion appeals to him more than a potential title bout.
Oliveira won the UFC lightweight belt last May and retained it in December, before being stripped of the gold last month after missing weight – one day before his scheduled defence against Justin Gaethje.
Oliveira, 32, submitted Gaethje in the first round to extend his records for most finishes and most submission wins in UFC history. While the Brazilian’s weigh-in mishap made him ineligible to win back the title, his victory did position him as No 1 contender.
Oliveira has seemed to be on a collision course with Islam Makhachev, who is coached by his childhood friend and former 155lbs champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, with a bout between the pair for the vacant lightweight title making sense.
Oliveira, however, has made clear his intentions to face McGregor next.
“It would be a very good fight for me,” Oliveira told ESPN Brazil. “It would put a lot of money in my pocket, and [at this moment] that’s the most important thing. And it would also be really good for my legacy, for me to have in my story.
“Regardless if he’s coming from defeat or not, he’s a guy who’s made history, so I think it would be great. But it’s not just up to me; if it were up to me, this fight would already be happening.
“I have a daughter to raise. Everyone wants to fight Conor, it’s not just me who wants to. Everyone knows that fighting Conor is very profitable.”
Oliveira has won 11 fights in a row, with 10 of those victories having come via finish. In contrast, McGregor has lost his last two fights, having been beaten by Dustin Poirier twice in 2021, and is without a win at 155lbs since 2016.
Last January, Poirier handed McGregor the first knockout defeat of the Irishman’s professional career. Then in July, the American beat the former dual-weight champion when McGregor suffered a broken leg at the end of the first round.
Makhachev, meanwhile, is on a 10-fight win streak and has only lost once as a professional.
