Charles Oliveira to be without head coach at UFC 256 due to positive COVID-19 test

UFC lightweight contender Charles Oliveira will be without his head coach Diego Lima for his UFC 256 bout this weekend against Tony Ferguson.

Oliveira faces off against the toughest test of his career to date when he takes on Ferguson in the co-main event of this weekend’s UFC 256 card. Oliveira is riding a seven-fight win streak into this bout with all of those wins coming by stoppage. During his win streak, Oliveira has won five fights with his trademark submissions, but he has also won two fights by knockout, which shows he is improving in his standup. One of the people who he credits for his improvements is his coach at Chute Boxe, Lima. But he won’t have him at UFC 256.

According to a report from UFC.com, Oliveira will be without his head coach for the biggest fight of his life after Lima tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to make the trip from Brazil to the United States for the fight. Instead, Oliveira will be cornered by UFC veteran Jorge Patino as well as Gia Santos, according to MMAFighting.com. But coach Lima, sadly, won’t be there in the corner of Oliveira, though he will be there in spirit for his pupil.

“We get sad, upset, but he is here with us at heart, in positive thinking, in spirit, and we know that everything will be all right. The lack of him here gives me the strength to show that we can win and that we did a wonderful job together,” Oliveira said.

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The winner of Ferguson vs. Oliveira figures to play into the title picture in the UFC lightweight division, which is currently muddled due to UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s quasi-retirement. If Oliveira is going to go in there and pull off the upset — and he is the betting underdog in this matchup — then he will need to use all the tricks up his sleeve that he has learned from Lima and his other coaches over the years in MMA.

Do you think Charles Oliveira will upset Tony Ferguson at UFC 256?