UFC 302 is live this weekend on Saturday, June 2nd at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Headlining the event is the reigning and defending lightweight champion Islam Makhachev defending his title for a third time when he faces off against former interim lightweight champion Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier.
Ahead of this weekend's stacked PPV event, a former foe of both Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, gave his thoughts on this matchup as well as the potential matchup with Arman Tsarukyan as well:
“Dustin Poirier has shown that in his last fight, he's shown that many times already. He has heavy hands and hits hard so he definitely can knock him out, but I think Islam [Makhachev] remains as champion… Arman [Tsarukyan] is a guy that takes you down and holds you there the entire time. No way. It's not a fight he can win.”
Oliveira has enough experience with these three competitors that his prediction holds a lot of weight in these two particular matchups. He is 1-2 against these competitors but they were all closely contested especially his fight against Arman Tsarukyan that many believe he won even though he lost a very close split decision.
Charles Oliveira could potentially move to welterweight
There could be a change of scenery for the former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. There have been talks about him moving up to welterweight to try his luck in a brand new division. After his defeat to Arman Tsarukyan, he and his team realized that another shot at the lightweight title would take an uphill battle to get back at the top of the division.
Also, there is one fighter at the top of the welterweight division, Colby Covington who has called out Oliveira to a fight and he is keen on making that fight happen.
Charles Oliveira vs. Colby Covington is a fight the fans would absolutely love to see happen. Oliveira is a fan favorite and loved by many in the MMA community meanwhile, Covington is the opposite as he is despised by many in the community and they would love nothing more for Oliveira to beat him and shut him up once and for all.
This fight would also put Oliveira in the right position to push toward a potential title shot in the welterweight division because Covington is a three-time title challenger and is still the No. 4 ranked welterweight contender. It remains to be seen what is next for “Du Bronx” but I am sure the fans are waiting for some confirmation on his next fight and many would be clamoring over this potential matchup.