Charles Oliveira shares how his father reacted to him being stripped of UFC lightweight title: “My dad called me desperate, crying like a child”

Charles Oliveira revealed his father’s emotional reaction to the news that he was stripped of the UFC lightweight gold.

Back in May, Oliveira lost the 155-pound championship but it wasn’t due to losing a bout. At the UFC 274 weigh-ins, “do Bronx” missed weight by just half a pound. He was stripped of the gold but he ended up fighting Justin Gaethje and choked him out in the first round.

Appearing on the Podpah podcast, Oliveira revealed that his father was in tears after the UFC Lightweight Championship was vacated (h/t SportsKeeda.com).

“Man, my dad called me desperate, crying like a child. And I was like, ‘Calm down, don’t worry, we’ll fix this,’ and such. But my dad was just crying.”

Oliveira will be taking on Islam Makhachev on Oct. 22 at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. The winner will be crowned the new UFC Lightweight Champion.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Oliveira said he feels this bout will be a title defense.

“The belt is already mine. To me, this is another title defense… I made weight, I’m sure I made weight. I feel like I was robbed. It was really hard – I heard my dad crying, my daughter was questioning why I lost the belt. It was very upsetting, it went against all the dedication I put into this. But the most important part was that I showed my championship mentality. Even after all that happened, I pulled through and still put on a show for everyone.” 

Oliveira is hoping to become a two-time UFC Lightweight Champion at the conclusion of UFC 280. As it stands now, Oliveira is the betting underdog going into his showdown with Makhachev.