Ahead of his UFC 300 fight against Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira’s coach admits that there’s one man who could completely alter their lightweight title plans.
Whilst former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira is definitely not looking past UFC 300 and the incredibly dangerous Arman Tsarukyan, apparently the team behind ‘do Bronx’ are already desirous about ways to send the Brazilian’s popularity into superstardom – teasing that a mega-fight with Conor McGregor could possibly be closer than we thought.
Conor McGregor messaged Charles Oliveira ‘telling him to attend’
Talking to MMAFighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Charles Oliveira’s coach Diego Lima revealed that when ‘do Bronx’ held the lightweight world championship, McGregor had actually messaged him privately with a special request.
“Before Makhachev, McGregor texted [Charles Oliveira] telling him to attend, to not fight him. They exchanged direct messages, McGregor sent him a video training and running on the beach.”
Yet ‘Notorious’ runs on his own schedule, as demonstrated by Michael Chandler’s patience in waiting for an official contract to be signed – and that’s exactly why Oliveira’s team didn’t take the decision seriously.
“If we had waited for him, how long would which have been? We’d be three years with no fights already. We are able to’t wait [that long], we want work,” said Lima, who hasn’t given up on the possibility of facing the Irishman after UFC 300 in April.
“McGregor has made history, what this guy has completed is gigantic…Have a look at the records he breaks, it’s incredible what he does. So, a fight with him could be incredible, after all, it will. Professionally speaking, it will be incredible.”
So incredible, that Lima even admitted that they’d be willing to forgo the chance to face Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title next, should that chance present itself later within the 12 months.
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Charles Oliveira’s coach admits Conor McGregor could force a title shot delay
Whilst Lima acknowledged that chasing ‘Red Panty Night’ is often a surefire strategy to remain stagnant on the sidelines for months and even years at a time, the veteran coach explained that they’d be willing to delay a title fight against Islam Makhachev to get that probability.
“If we had the chance to fight McGregor at welterweight after this fight, we might fight McGregor. But how in regards to the belt? Okay, we’ll fight for the belt after that, God willing.”
“We all know that with McGregor, the creature has turn into greater than the creator,” said Lima, before adding “We all know that if the chance got here, [since] McGregor already considered this fight, if we actually had this chance, that’s the one we would like.”
The Chute Box head coach also noted that “It’s not that it’s greater than the belt,” but that defeating such a superstar would guarantee one other shot at current king Islam Makhachev:
“The belt is a certainty after beating McGregor. No way we beat McGregor and don’t fight for the belt next. It’s one after the opposite, I believed we might fight McGregor after which for the belt…And McGregor desires to fight [International] Fight Week, so who knows…but one fight at a time.”
Whilst a super-fight between Oliveira and McGregor would definitely land as one in every of the highest-selling PPVs in UFC history, Lima understands they will’t be looking past such a dangerous and hungry prospect as Tsarukyan.
Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan takes place on the major card of UFC 300, scheduled for April 13 in Las Vegas.
