Charles Oliveira feels in perfect condition to fight in the main event of UFC Rio on Oct. 11 despite the short turnaround following the most brutal loss of his MMA career.<\/p>\n
The former lightweight champion was stopped by Ilia Topuria in the first round on June 28, coming up short in his attempt to reclaim the lightweight title. Six weeks later, the UFC announced \u201cdo Bronx\u201d would be returning to action in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, against Rafael Fiziev.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s now scheduled to face replacement Mateusz Gamrot after Fiziev withdrew due to an injury.<\/p>\n
While fans and fellow fighters worry it could be toon soon for Oliveira to fight against after the Topuria loss, he assures everyone he\u2019s on point to enter the octagon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went back to sparring and I\u2019m training normal,\u201d Oliveira told MMA Fighting in a recent interview. \u201cI don\u2019t feel any headache, I don\u2019t feel anything. [People said] \u2018Oh, he\u2019ll feel this and that.\u2019 Man, I don\u2019t feel anything. I\u2019m just training at Chute Boxe the same way I trained for the last fights. I\u2019m fine, I\u2019m happy, you know? What matters the most is you being happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oliveira said he\u2019s seen criticism towards Chute Boxe for getting him back to action so soon, but the Brazilian star said he was the one who pushed for this opportunity to be the main event of UFC\u2019s upcoming show in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started by saying I didn\u2019t want any fight other than in Rio,\u201d Oliveira said. \u201cI wanted to fight in Rio. In front of my flag, in front of my crowd, for all the messages I\u2019ve received from the Brazilian people. I had to do this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo Bronx\u201d admits that a Max Holloway rematch was his No. 1 choice after losing to Topuria, but seeing \u201cBlessed\u201d sidelined with an injury, unable to return to action in 2025, convinced him to change plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have to wait for him until next year, and I wanted to fight soon,\u201d Oliveira said. \u201cI wanted to fight. And that\u2019s when I had this idea, for all the messages and love I\u2019ve received. I said, \u2018Man, I wanna fight in Rio. I need to fight in Rio. I want to fight.\u2019 I\u2019m fine, and I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oliveira\u2019s previous nine bouts were on pay-per-view cards, eight of them in main or co-main event slots, but he said that going back to a Fight Night for the first time in five years was not an issue. UFC\u2019s decision to book Oliveira on a smaller card in Brazil was a surprising one, though, considering his purse and the fact Brazil events don\u2019t generate much revenue in ticket sales due to the real-dollar exchange rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people are talking about that,\u201d Oliveira said. \u201cBut the reality is, just so you know, is that I\u2019m very happy with everything that\u2019s going on, I\u2019m very happy with everything that was negotiated. I\u2019m very happy to be part of this card, so it\u2019s all 100 percent for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be fighting in front of your flag, in front of your people and your family, that definitely pushes you forward,\u201d Oliveira said. \u201cAnd to be able to come back after five years\u2026 That was a whole other Charles. This is a completely different Charles in terms of media, of fanbase. To be able to fight here in Brazil again and have that opportunity with a sold out crowd, that\u2019s gigantic for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oliveira wanted to be part of a smaller Fight Night event just for the chance to compete in front of his own people in Brazil with a proper crowd, and tickets sold out almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do sometimes wonder how I\u2019ll be able to handle the emotions,\u201d Oliveira said. \u201cI\u2019m simply focused on the fight. A long time ago I was sitting in Rio \u2014 not on front row because I was not the Charles I am today \u2014, sitting where the athletes stay. And out of nowhere the lights go out, and then the lights point at one direction and this song starts to play and Anderson Silva walks out greeting the fans. I looked around and said, \u2018I hope that happens to me one day. To fight in Brazil, or just walk out like that.\u2019 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to be more emotional than that, but it\u2019s going to be crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former UFC lightweight champion was treated like hero in Canada when he beat Beneil Dariush in June 2023. He now looks to rebound after a rough first-round knockout defeat to Ilia Topuria in June 2025, and expects an emotional moment when he enters the Farmasi Arena in Rio on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never forget the walkout [in Canada],\u201d Oliveira said. \u201cWe were behind the curtains and [my coach] Diego [Lima] telling me,\u2019 Can you see this? Can you hear this?\u2019 My opponent walking out and people booing him. And when they announced me and showed my picture [on the big screen], I got emotional walking out. Can you imagine when they announce me in Rio? It\u2019s all going down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arena will be packed with approximately 15,000 fans to witness Oliveira vs. Gamrot go at it for five rounds or less, but two people in attendance won\u2019t be looking at the eight-sided cage when the bell sounds: Francisco and Ozana, his parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where [I fight], they never watch [the fight] because they only watch my walkout,\u201d Oliveira said. \u201cIt was like that at UFC Sao Paulo, at home. They only watch my walkout and then get on their knee, no matter where, and pray to God. They only hear what\u2019s going on in the arena or on TV, and I\u2019m sure it won\u2019t be different this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oliveira tried securing his parents a visa to fly to the United States to watch him perform, but changed plans after the promotion booked him as the main attraction in Rio de Janeiro. They were in the arena in the past, like when \u201cdo Bronx\u201d stopped Jared Gordon at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo \u2014 and Francisco \u2018predicted\u2019 the method of victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was funny that the night I fought Jared Gordon,\u201d Oliveira said, \u201cmy dad was in the arena and one person was recording it. He asked my father, \u2018How is it going to be tonight?\u2019 My father said, \u2018Tonight, he\u2019s knocking him out. He won\u2019t submit him, tonight it\u2019s different.\u2019 And we knocked him out. My father made his prediction and it worked. This time he will be in the arena, sitting on front row, and it will be the same thing again: he will watch my walkout and then get on his knee with my mom and pray.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charles Oliveira feels in perfect condition to fight in the main event of UFC Rio on Oct. 11…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,1347,785,85,787,1396],"class_list":{"0":"post-205678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-latest-news","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-ufc","15":"tag-ufc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}