Islam Makhachev fears Charles Oliveira will purposely avoid a fight with him and try to fight Conor Mcgregor or Nate Diaz instead.
Makhachev has been pushing for his shot at the vacant UFC lightweight title against Oliviera since the Brazilian was stripped of his belt earlier this month. Oliveira missed weight for his title defence against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274, meaning he lost his belt despite winning by first-round submission.
Since his recent win, Oliveira has told UFC boss Dana White he can knock out Diaz and submit McGregor in the same night - and Makhachev thinks Oliveira will fight one of the two in September. "I know Nate Diaz or Conor will say let's do it in September," he told ESPN. "He [Oliveira] is gonna fight in September too. He just run, you know.
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"His grappling or other skills are not gonna work with me... [Dustin] Poirier or [Michael] Chandler, all these guys have good striking but nobody goes to grappling with Oliveira when they drop him. Nobody hold him there, but we know when someone gives him a hard time he always give up."
Makhachev insists he will make Oliveira "give up" in their potential fight by tiring him out on the ground. The Russian took aim at Oliveira for tapping out in some of his previous UFC losses and vows he will make him do the same. Oliveira is unbeaten in his last 11 fights whilst Makhachev is on a 10-fight winning streak.
Oliveira thinks a fight between Makhachev and Beneil Dariush needs to be rescheduled to decide the next lightweight title challenger. The pair were supposed to headline a Fight Night event in February, but Dariush pulled out due to injury.
“I think the reality is, Makhachev has to fight Dariush first,” Oliveira told Trocacao Franca. "They both have to fight and then we’ll see who we’re fighting or not. Makhachev is super tough and deserves all the respect in the world. Dariush is also super tough and has a great team."
“Everyone I beat, I’ve made it pretty clear. I never let it go the distance, I always finish them. Makhachev and Dariush are the two guys I haven’t fought yet and they both have to make this fight happen. Maybe [the next contender] comes from this fight. The thing is, it makes no difference to me. I’ll be ready. The champion’s name is Charles Oliveira.”
