Islam Makhachev is backing former rival Charles Oliveira for a possible fight against Colby Covington.
Makhachev dethroned Oliveira via second-round submission at UFC 280 in October 2022. Oliveira earned a rematch with Makhachev by knockout over Benil Dariush at UFC 289 and was scheduled to face the Dagestan phenom again at UFC 294 in October 2023, but was forced to withdraw after suffering a severe cut during sparring just 11 days before the bout.
Oliveira was suddenly replaced by Alexander Volkanovski, who was knocked out by Makhachev with a head kick, and is scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier for the title in the main event of UFC 302 on June 1.
ORDER NOW! UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier Saturday at 10 PM ET on ESPN+ Meanwhile, Oliveira recently returned, losing a split decision to rising star Arman Tsarukyan in a title eliminator at last month’s UFC 300. Now at a crossroads in his career, Oliveira has his sights set on moving up to welterweight to face Covington.
Makhachev recently praised his former rival and invited “The Bronx” to train in Dagestan, and the lightweight champion also predicted a stoppage victory for Oliveira against “Chaos.”
“Charles is a good guy. If we can help him one day, he could become one of us.”
[in our] “Join our camp and come to Dagestan,” Makhachev said at media day for UFC 302. “He has very good striking, he has a high level of grappling, and we can help him with wrestling.”
“Charles [Covington]Charles is [he’s] He’s a very dangerous guy. Every second this guy is trying to finish. And how many times has he finished? [does] Does he have it? I think more than anyone else. So this guy [has] It’s a very advanced skill.”
