Charles Oliveira wants fellow UFC lightweights to stand by their word and fight him in Rio de Janeiro.
The UFC has been working tirelessly looking for a new opponent for “do Bronx” after Rafael Fiziev withdrew from the Oct. 11 five-round main event in Brazil due to injury. However, the former UFC lightweight champion claims many of those who have publicly volunteered for the task had a different answer when approached by the promotion.
“Everybody knows my UFC Rio fight is off,” Oliveira said on Instagram
Stories, “But don’t fall for the talk of these guys out there [saying] ‘I’m here, I’ll go,’ because the UFC is calling and they’re all saying, ‘Oh, there’s not enough time to make weight. Oh, I can’t.’ They’re posting this on the internet to get hype.
“Stop it, it’s not a good look. I saw one saying this, another saying that, but when the UFC calls, what do they say? ‘Oh, I can’t. I got belly ache. I broke a finger. I hurt my hand.’ Enough with that, it’s not a good look.”
Oliveira did not mention any specific names in the video. On a following post, he wrote “let’s go” alongside news of Renato Moicano and Benoit Saint Denis volunteering for the spot. Mateusz Gamrot is another top-ranked lightweight that has petitioned for the opportunity on social media.
Earlier this month following a one-sided victory over Mauricio Ruffy at UFC Paris, Saint Denis said he would be down to step up in case of an injury on either side of the UFC Rio headliner, but his manager revealed on social media he won’t be taking the match on such short notice.
“I want to fight at UFC Rio, I asked for this fight,” Oliveira said. “My opponent got hurt, then 10 guys show up saying they would fight. So far, every time the UFC calls [asking] ‘Let’s fight?’ [they say] ‘I can’t.’ So stop with that because it’s not a good look. Do you want fame? Do something else. Don’t come saying you’ll fight when it’s a lie, OK?”
Oliveira (35-11, 1 NC) asked to headline a UFC event in Brazil after losing a title bout to to Ilia Topuria in June, when he suffered a first-round knockout.
