I asked him to fight Oliveira, but he called up Colby instead. He only fights once a year and is 2-3 since 2019.
We thought you were better, Follow
You know I’d fire at you on the ground… but maybe that’s why you prefer to fight Colby…
— Mateusz Gamrot (@gamer_mma)
May 22, 2024
Mateusz Gamrot believes Charles Oliveira is avoiding a showdown with him. “The Gamer” Gamrot (24-2) has repeatedly criticized former titleholder Oliveira (34-10), most recently revealing that “The Bronx” is targeting a comeback in July or August. The Brazilian said he has no desire to drop down the rankings to fight at this stage of his career and ruled out a fight with Gamrot. Instead, he offered to serve as the backup for Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29, and later expressed interest in a welterweight bout with Colby Covington.
Gamrot, who wasn’t entirely pleased, criticized the former lightweight champion for targeting Covington, who is 2-3 in his past five Octagon appearances. “Gamer” wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
“We asked you to fight Oliveira, but he called Colby instead. He only fights once a year and has a record of 2-3 since 2019. We thought you were stronger, but… [Charles
Oliveira]”… You know I’m going to fire at you on the ground… but maybe that’s why you want to fight Colby,” Gamrot said.
Oliveira is fresh off a narrow split decision loss in a title eliminator bout against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in April. The Brazilian earned his spot in the title eliminator with a first-round knockout win over Beneil Dariush, who went on to defeat Gamrot by decision in 2022. The Shoot Boxer Diego Lima star had reeled off an impressive 11-fight win streak that included wins over the likes of Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler before losing two of his three bouts.
Gamrot had won four straight bouts before losing to Dariusz after losing a split decision to Guram Kutateladze in his UFC debut in 2020. The Polish fighter then bounced back with a three-fight win streak, scoring a unanimous decision win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 299 in March.
