Charles Oliveira opens up following submission loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280

Charles Oliveira failed to become a two-time UFC Lightweight Champion and he has spoken out following his UFC 280 loss.

Oliveira and Islam Makhachev did battle inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi this past Saturday. The bout was contested for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship. This was a one-sided showing in favor of Makhachev, who secured the second-round submission finish.

Oliveira appeared to be fighting back tears during his post-fight interview and asked UFC President Dana White to give him another opportunity. While the UFC looks to be on board with a showdown between Makhachev and UFC Featherweight Champion Alex Volkanovski, Oliveira has made it clear that he wants to remain in the 155-pound title picture.

During the UFC 280 post-fight press conference, Oliveira discussed his loss to Makhachev and expressed optimism about being able to rebound (h/t MMAFighting).

.@CharlesDoBronxs on bouncing back from defeat…

“No one’s ever going to hit me as hard as life has hit me. Fell down and I’m going to get up and I’m going to get this belt back.”

Full #UFC280 post-fight scrum ▶️ https://t.co/7NPwr0Akwh pic.twitter.com/R791voIgVb

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) October 22, 2022

“No one’s ever going to hit me as hard as life has hit me,” Oliveira said. “So, fell down and I’m going to get up and I’m going to get this belt back.”

Oliveira was riding an 11-fight winning streak before the Makhachev fight. He hadn’t lost a fight since December 2017. During that stretch, Oliveira became the UFC Lightweight Champion back in May 2021. He defeated Michael Chandler via second-round TKO to capture the gold.

Oliveira ended up losing the championship after missing weight for a scheduled title defense against Justin Gaethje. In the end, “do Bronx” defeated Gaethje, but the title was only on the line for “The Highlight.” it’ll be interesting to see where Oliveira goes from here, but an immediate title rematch probably isn’t in the cards.