Charles Oliveira says Islam Makhachev refused to fight him in Brazil in January: “They took it where they wanted”

Charles Oliveira says the original plan was to have his vacant lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev headline UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in January.

The UFC announced they are set to return to Brazil in January and according to Oliveira, he was supposed to face Makhachev on the card. However, according to the former lightweight champ, he claims Makhachev refused to go to Brazil and rather pleaded to have the fight in Abu Dhabi, which is where it will now take place.

Although as of right now, Oliveira won’t get the chance to fight in Brazil, he says he still is looking forward to the fight and silencing the doubters.

“The negotiation wasn’t hard. Charles is the most sincere guy in the world. Everyone knows who I wanted to fight (Conor McGregor),” Oliveira said to AG Fight. “I don’t think this Makhachev fight should have happened now. They talked so much about how they would take the fight in Brazil, That’s a lie. If they had accepted to fight in Brazil, we would be fighting in January. I talked so much about that Rio card. The truth is that they talked, talked, talked, but they took the fight to where they wanted. It’s okay. The Octagon is the same anywhere in the world, in any country. Charles will be 100% ready.”

Charles Oliveira will be going into enemy territory when he faces Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. It’s also the opposite of the world so to get accustomed to it, Oliveira says he will be going out two or three weeks early.

“I told Diego (Lima), this time I’m going to do something different. I never wanted to come to the United States with so much time, but this time I’m going there (Abu Dhabi), I think we’ll go 20 days before the fight,” Oliveira added. “If I’m not mistaken, 15 of the team are going, practically my entire team, from the part that makes my camp, will be going there with me this time… So we can wake up at the right times, we try to do the perfect thing, to make a perfect fight.”

What do you make of Charles Oliveira saying Islam Makhachev refused to fight him in Brazil?