Charles Oliveira has no interest in a short notice fight unless UFC gold is on the line, says his coach.
The Brazilian submission specialist is in the midst of an eight-fight win streak at 155-pounds, with his two most recent wins against Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee being among the most impressive of his 39 fight career.
However, with Oliveira now ranked in third position in the lightweight division he seems set on waiting for a title shot rather than risking his spot after he reportedly turned down a short notice fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 258 on February 13 — a fight which Chandler says that he accepted.
And according to his longtime coach Diego Lima, it just doesn’t make sense for Oliveira to take such a momentous fight on less than two weeks’ notice.
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“Charles had never been so close to the belt and it’s important to note that he worked hard for that. He is on an eight-fight winning streak, with seven coming via submission or KO. The fans and even Poirier recognised that,” Lima said via Sherdog. “Today is February 1. It makes no sense for us to accept a title eliminator for 11 days from now.
“Charles needs time to lose weight, we lose about two days with visa stuff and of course we need to prepare for the fight itself,” Lima added. “Our goal was fight for the belt against Poirier, but if Poirier will not fight for the belt and the UFC wants to make the Chandler fight for the belt, no problem. But all champions have two or three months to make a camp to get ready.
“We already did crazy stuff like accept Clay Guida in 10 days and Tony Ferguson in 20, but I think that for all Charles has done, he deserves to have a full camp to fight for that title.”
