Colby
Covington’s recent callout has
Charles
Oliveira’s attention.
Covington recently turned down a potential matchup against
welterweight up-and-comer
Ian Garry,
who has been chasing him for several months now. “Chaos” instead
Ag.Fight “You have to sit down. When I
woke up in the morning, thousands of people were sending me
messages. I sent it to Diego [Lima] and Diego said it too, I see
what you think. I said, ‘Diego, just sit down, talk, think, see
what’s good, see what the UFC thinks about it. It’s not just what
Charles thinks, it’s about what the UFC thinks about it.
[Colby] is a talkative guy, he’s a guy who talks a lot, so let’s
see. Why not?... For sure [I’ll be willing to move up]. If it makes
sense, if it’s something good for me, why not?”
However, a fight with Covington isn’t the only possibility that
intrigues Oliveira.
"Now it's time for my managers, Diego Ribas and
Jorge
Patino, to work hard with UFC to see what makes sense,” he
said. “Some suggested me to be a reserve fighter of [
Conor
McGregor vs.
Michael
Chandler at UFC 303]. Others liked the idea of a fight with
[Max] Holloway for the BMF title. That would be great too since it
would be a rematch of a fight that happened in 2015, and I got hurt
in the first round and could not continue. Right now, I´m just
waiting.”
One possibility that “do Bronx” won’t consider is a matchup against
Renato
Carneiro, who recently challenged the former lightweight
champ.
“I respect ‘Moicano’ a lot,” he said. “But my focus in the division
now is above me in the rankings.”
Oliveira is coming off a split-decision loss to
Arman
Tsarukyan at
UFC
300, a bout that could have earned the Brazilian another shot
at 155-pound gold if he had been victorious.