“It was a great fight… but I’m next, and he knows that,” roared Charles Oliveira after witnessing Islam Makhachev take the first-round victory against Renato Moicano at UFC 311. The former lightweight champion and Makhachev have a history with one another, and their rematch has been on the cards for more than a year now. With Oliveira’s last victory against Michael Chandler at UFC 309, it appears that ‘Do Bronx’ is back in the championship race and it looks like the Brazilian is a little eager to make a comeback.

According to verified sources, the former lightweight champion wants to make a comeback to the Octagon this summer, however, his opponent is yet to be announced. Oliveira’s coach Diego Lima has himself come forward to make the announcement. “I believe the scenario remained pretty much the way we imagined and wanted, with Charles being the next contender,” said Diego Lima.

He further added, “Dana [White] said Arman will have to do another fight first, and there’s no point doing Arman and Charles in my opinion. Makhachev is our next challenge, but we know he’s the champion. We depend on him to know what our next step is.” Charles Oliveira clinched an amazing win by unanimous decision last year against Michael Chandler at UFC 309. This victory put him back in the title contention race. However, who will be his opponent? Well, Charles Oliveira wants to fight against Islam Makhachev, “I spoke with Charles a lot and he told me, ‘Lima, I won’t want to wait a whole year. I want Makhachev in the middle of the year. I want the belt.” But will the champ be eager to face ‘Do Bronx’?

Diego Lima believes that Islam Makhachev would be his next fight but it must be noted that the champion has just defended his title and he would need a good rest before he could come back to the Octagon once again. In addition to that, the Dagestani fighter has urged Dana White to give him a chance to fight for the second belt.

When asked about the fate of Islam Makhachev, the UFC CEO emphasized that they have planned something special for the lightweight champion and the world will know it when UFC announces it. “As soon as we announce it, you’ll know,” he said with a slight smirk.

Well, rumors have it that the lightweight champ might either clash against the middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis or more realistically, the featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.  So, with Islam Makhachev out of the question, who could clash against the former champ? Let’s find out.

Charles Oliveira is open to the idea of a rematch against Islam Makhachev and Max Holloway

“Illuminated by god.” this is what Charles Oliveira believes in and as the road to the lightweight glory has once again opened for him, the Brazilian will be looking to go far and beyond to claim his belt once again. While having a conversation with the UFC, Oliveira emphasized that he knows what he has to do now to earn his title back, “It’s not only about money, I have a dream of becoming the champion once again and taking this belt back to Brazil, so I’ll only get in there when I’m 100% ready.”

While Charles’ primary focus remains to secure a rematch with Makhachev, he understands that champions typically fight only twice a year. With the possibility that the Russian might not compete in the Octagon for some time, Oliveira has a backup plan ready.

“I prefer to leave it to my managers and focus only on training and being with my family, but we’ll have to see when he (Makhachev) will want to come back now,” said Oliveira. “If he only wants to fight in October, I definitely want to fight before that, so why not challenge Max Holloway for the BMF belt?”

The last time Charles Oliveira clashed against Max Holloway, he was badly defeated. However, a decade has passed since that incident and times have changed now. So, who do you think will be ‘Do Bronx’s next opponent? State your thoughts in the comments below.