Plenty of fans expressed concern at Oliveira\u2019s decision<\/a> to make such a quick turnaround after a violent knockout loss, but now his place on UFC Rio is in serious jeopardy following a report from AG Fight<\/a> that Fiziev has withdrawn from the event due to injury. <\/p>\n Currently the UFC\u2019s #10-ranked lightweight contender, Fiziev was knocked out in his promotional debut in 2019 before he put together a six-fight win streak that included five-straight post-fight bonuses. <\/p>\n READ MORE: UFC reportedly books unexpected headliner for one of ESPN’s last UFC Fight Night cards<\/a><\/p>\n The 32-year-old extended that run of bonuses to six-straight fights when he lost a majority decision to Justin Gaethje at UFC 286. A return to action later that year saw Fiziev unfortunately suffer a leg injury during the second round of his main event bout with Mateusz Gamrot, and after a lengthy layoff he returned to rematch Gaethje on short notice at UFC 313. <\/p>\n Justin Gaethje (red gloves) fights Rafael Fiziev (blue gloves) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. \/ Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n The two lightweights once again took home \u201cFight of the Night\u201d honors<\/a> at UFC 313, but Fiziev\u2019s losing streak stretched to three fights when he dropped a unanimous decision. \u201cAtaman\u201d snapped that skid against Ignacio Bahamondes in June, and a UFC Rio matchup with Oliveira would have given the 32-year-old a chance to break into the lightweight division\u2019s Top 5. <\/p>\n Many fans looked at the Fiziev fight as a dangerous one for Oliveira<\/a>, as the #4-ranked lightweight contender would have been fighting down the rankings in addition to the fact that he was making a fairly quick return from a nasty knockout. <\/p>\n READ MORE: Ian Garry teases next fight and offers stunning UFC 322 pick for Islam vs. JDM<\/a><\/p>\n One of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster, Oliveira relinquished the promotion\u2019s lightweight belt when he missed weight ahead of a title defense against Gaethje in 2022. The 35-year-old was submitted by Islam Makhachev the following October and has alternated wins and losses since then, defeating Beneil Dariush and Michael Chandler but coming up short against Arman Tsarukyan and Topuria.<\/p>\n Ilia Topuria (red gloves) fights Charles Oliveira (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. \/ Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n It will be difficult for the UFC to find a suitable opponent for Oliveira on such short notice if the promotion does intend to keep him on UFC Rio, and currently the card looks like this<\/a> just a few weeks out from October 11. <\/p>\n \u2022\tCo-Main Event: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Montel Jackson<\/p>\n \u2022\tJhonata Diniz vs. Mario Pinto<\/p>\n \u2022\tVicente Luque vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio<\/p>\n \u2022\tGabriel Bonfim vs. Randy Brown<\/p>\n \u2022\tValter Walker vs. Mohammed Usman<\/p>\n \u2022\tLucas Rocha vs. Stewart Nicoll<\/p>\n \u2022\tVitor Petrino vs. Thomas Petersen<\/p>\n \u2022\tJulia Polastri vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz<\/p>\n \u2022\tIrina Alekseeva vs. Beatriz Mesquita<\/p>\n \u2022\tJafel Filho vs. Clayton Carpenter<\/p>\n \u2022\tLucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell<\/p>\n \u2022\tRicardo Ramos vs. Kaan Ofli<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Kayla Harrison shares update on plans for UFC superfight with Amanda Nunes<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0‘Giant Paddy Pimblett\u2019 compared to Brock Lesnar makes his MMA return this weekend<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Joe Rogan offers radical solution to fix \u2018crazy\u2019 issue hurting UFC fighters<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0UFC contract winner booked for debut fight after 16-second KO impressed Dana White<\/a><\/p>\n Stick with\u00a0MMAKnockout<\/a>\u00a0for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.<\/p>\n Follow MMAKnockout on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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