Coach reveals Charles Oliveira and Conor McGregor traded direct messages prior to the Islam Makhachev fight

Coach Diego Lima is revealing Charles Oliveira and Conor McGregor traded direct messages prior to the Islam Makhachev fight.

‘do Bronx’ fought Islam Makhachev (25-1 MMA) back in October of 2022 at UFC 280. The result was a submission loss for Oliveira at 3:16 of round 2.

It was in a recent interview with MMA Fighting that Oliveira’s head coach, Diego Lima, said that before they fought Makhachev, the Brazilian was in contact with Conor McGregor:

“He has sponsors. He needs to fight, he needs to work. We just can’t not do it. It’s like McGregor. Before Makhachev, McGregor texted (Charles Oliveira) telling him to wait, not to fight him (Makhachev). They exchanged direct messages.”

Continuing Lima said (h/t MMANews):

“McGregor sent him a video training and running at the beach. If we had waited for him, how long would that have been? We’d be three years with no fights already. We can’t wait, we need to work.”  

It’s true, McGregor (22-6 MMA) has not fought since at UFC 264. The Irishman lost to Dustin Poirier (30-8 MMA) by TKO that Saturday night in July of 2021. After breaking his leg in the process, McGregor has been out of commission since, but is apparently set to return this year to face Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA).

Charles Oliveira (34-9 MMA) will be back in action for the historic UFC 300, where he will face Arman Tsarukyan (21-3 MMA) in a lightweight bout. UFC 300 takes place on Saturday, April 13th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Do you agree with Lima that Charles Oliveira couldn’t and shouldn’t have waited for Conor McGregor, who’s now been out of competition for almost 3 years?

Will you be watching UFC 300? Do you believe Oliveira will defeat Tsarukyan in hopes of getting another shot at the title?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!