Charles Oliveira open to Paddy Pimblett fight after UFC 314: ‘He likes to talk a lot’

Former undisputed lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira is yet to book his first outing of this annum, however, it would seem the Sao Paulo star will have a keen eye on the upcoming performance of surging Liverpool grappler, Paddy Pimblett as he prepares for his UFC 314 outing.

Oliveira, a fan-favorite former undisputed lightweight titleholder has been sidelined since handing soon-to-be common-foe, Michael Chandler a second loss in their series. Co-headlining the UFC 308 card in Madison Square Garden last November, Oliviera turned in a one-sided unanimous decision win over the Missouri veteran over the course of five rounds.

And weighing up his chances of a rematch with Islam Makhachev off the back of his win against Chandler late last year, Oliveira also showed interest in a title eliminator clash with incoming featherweight megastar, Ilia Topuria.

“Whoever I get told to fight, I’m going to fight,” Charles Oliveira said via Oddspedia. “I have nothing but respect for Ilia Topuria, but this is lightweight. It’s the most difficult division you have ever seen and I have power in my hands. I believe in my Jiu-Jitsu, but I believe that I could knock Illa Topuria out.”

Charles Oliveira weighs up future fight with Paddy Pimblett after UFC 314

However, furthermore, the promotion’s most prolific submission ace and outright finisher spoke of a potential fight with former Cage Warriors star, Pimblett, particularly if he overcomes Chandler as soon as April.

I’ve been watching Paddy Pimblett for a while, he talks a lot and the people at the UFC love that,” Charles Oliveira explained. “But right now he has a really important fight coming up and it’s going to be a really tough test. If he keeps climbing the ranks then we are going to fight, that’s for sure.”