UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira has said that he’d happily accept super fights against his featherweight and welterweight counterparts, Alex Volkanovski and Kamaru Usman.
Oliveira captured the vacant lightweight title by stopping Michael Chandler in the second round at UFC 262, before making his first successful title defence at UFC 269, where he submitted Dustin Poirier in the third round.
Oliveira On Fighting Volkanovski And Usman
While Justin Gaethje is the frontrunner to challenge him next, the Brazilian said that he wouldn’t mind defending his title against Conor McGregor should he jump the line, and if given the opportunity, he told MMA Fighting that he’d move up or down a weight class for a championship fight as well.
“I really thought I couldn’t drop to 145 [pounds] anymore,” Oliveira said. “But this last weight cut, I was really [close to] 155 before the fight with this work we’ve been doing, with lots of water in the body, and we believe we could easily make 145.
“If I had the opportunity to go straight for the 145 belt, I’d move down to fight. Also, if I had the opportunity to go straight for the 170 belt, I’d also move up to fight, but I believe it’s more viable to [drop down] to 145 instead of going to 170 at this moment.”
Following Max Holloway’s withdrawal from his title fight against Volkanovski at UFC 272, the UFC is looking for potential replacements, with ‘The Korean Zombie’ being the frontrunner to face the champ, while former two division UFC champion Henry Cejudo is also willing to take on the Aussie.
Volkanovski last fought at UFC 266, where he defeated Brian Ortega by unanimous decision. As for Usman, he beat Colby Covington in his most recent fight by unanimous decision at UFC 268.
How do you rate Charles Oliveira’s chances against Alex Volkanovski and Kamaru Usman?
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