After a lot of speculation, Charles Oliveira’s next opponent is finally official, and it’s going to be a showdown with Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on October 22nd.
Oliveira is the divisional kingpin at lightweight with 11 wins to his name, but he’ll head into this fight without the title around his waist after being stripped of the belt prior to his last submission victory against Justin Gaethje after missing weight by just .5lbs a day earlier.
Nevertheless, he remains the champion in all but name and though he was hoping to land a money-spinning fight against Conor McGregor for his next Octagon outing, he’ll instead face the current No.4 ranked contender Makhachev instead, who has compiled a formidable winning streak of his own that now stretches to 10 fights.
Along the way Makhachev has defeated the likes of Bobby Green, Dan Hooker, Thiago Moises and Arman Tsarukyan, often in dominant fashion with his excellent wrestling ability, reminiscent of his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Still, on paper Oliveira has faced a higher level of opposition in recent times, with the aforementioned Gaethje being joined by the likes of Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee on the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace’s hitlist.
Oliveira vs. Makhachev will front a UFC 280 card that only has one other fight attached to it so far, with Belal Muhammad set to fight Sean Brady.
