Max Holloway praises former opponent Charles Oliveira and calls for Islam Makhachev rematch: “Excited to watch it”

Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has high praise for Charles Oliveira.

‘Do Bronx’ returned to the octagon over the weekend at UFC 289 in the co-main event. There, he faced Beneil Dariush in a title eliminator fight, with champion Islam Makhachev currently waiting for his next opponent. The two lightweights were highly motivated by that potential title shot headed into Saturday night.

At UFC 289, Charles Oliveira scored a highlight-reel first-round knockout win over Beneil Dariush. The victory appeared to have guaranteed a title shot, but that wasn’t the case. In fight week, Dana White backtracked, instead stating that it’s unknown who will get the next lightweight title shot.

While Charles Oliveira is obviously in the conversation, so is Alexander Volkanovski. ‘The Great’ has been out of action since his unanimous decision defeat to Islam Makhachev in February. Following that loss, the featherweight champion voiced his desire for a future rematch.

However, Max Holloway believes the Brazilian is the clear next title challenger. In a recent interview with The Mac Life, ‘Blessed’ praised Charles Oliveira, and his recent win. The Hawaiian famously scored a first-round stoppage win over the lightweight back in 2015. History aside, the featherweight is excited to see what’s next for his former foe.

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“I died, I think Charles is amazing man,” Max Holloway stated, offering his reaction to Charles Oliveira’s win over the weekend. “You know with all the naysayers and everybody saying he’s done, blah, blah, blah, he’s getting his rightful spot in October. To get that rematch, I’m excited to see it happen.”

He continued, “Oh brother, I think he did more than enough [to get a title shot]. But we’ll see, we’ve got Alex coming up on July 7th, if Alex goes out there and does something amazing, I think the UFC picks him too. We’ll see what happens, it’s a gamble right now.”

What do you make of these comments from Max Holloway? Do you want to see Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev 2?