Former undisputed lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira has denied claims from Islam Makhachev’s head coach, Javier Mendez that he will miss out a rematch with the Russian even with a win at UFC 289 – maintaining he is next in line to the throne should he beat Beneil Dariush this weekend.
Oliveira, the current #1 ranked lightweight contender, has been sidelined from the Octagon since he headlined UFC 280 last October in Abu Dhabi, UAE – suffering a second round arm-triangle submission loss to Makhachev in the pair’s vacant title fight.
With the defeat, Sao Paulo native, Charles Oliveira saw his division-best 12-fight winning run halted by Makhachev, as well as missing out on the opportunity to reclaim gold which he lost to the scales at UFC 274 last May.