Former opponents Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev have nothing but respect for each other.
Makhachev ended Oliveira’s lightweight title reign with a dominant submission win at UFC 280 in 2022. Oliveira earned an immediate rematch with a knockout win over Beneil Dariush but was forced out of the scheduled UFC 294 clash due a cut suffered in sparring 12 days before fight night. The Brazilian most recently lost a razor-thin split decision in a title eliminator against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in April.
Oliveira is now eyeing a move up to welterweight to fight Colby Covington.