Charles Oliveira talks UFC 294 withdrawal: ‘We didn’t want to go unprepared, I know many people will judge’
Former UFC lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira explains his withdrawal from Islam Makhachev rematch at UFC 294.
Yesterday the UFC officially announced that Charles Oliveira was out of his title fight set for October 21, and would be replaced by featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. While the replacement will be another intriguing rematch, some fans were disappointed not to see the always exciting Oliveira back in action.
Charles Oliveira details injury
Oliveira would confirm claims made by UFC CEO Dana White that ‘he splits his eyebrow wide open’. Photos would be shared of the nasty gash before ‘Du Bronx’ would posted a video where he detailed his injury.
“Some of you already know that I’m out of the upcoming UFC Abu Dhabi card,” Oliveira said. “In my final training in Brazil before traveling, I clashed heads in training and suffered a deep cut that needed eight or nine stitches, something like that, I don’t know for sure. It’s a cut too deep to be able to fight, to recover in such a short time and be able to put on a great fight.” (H/T MMA Fighting)
Oliveira is more than aware of the test that Makhachev is, especially considering how the last fight went. The Brazilian wants to enter the contest at his absolute best and cannot be blamed for taking what could be the biggest fight of his career.
“Everybody knows about the importance of this fight,” Oliveira said. “It’s not just a fight, it’s a title fight, so there were great things involved. We didn’t want to go there unprepared. I know many people will judge, many people will talk, but it’s an important fight for us and we couldn’t be there at our 80 percent, we had to be 120 percent ready for it.”
How did you react to Charles Oliveira pulling out?
