UFC 300: Charles Oliveira Ready to End Islam Makhachev Rivalry for Conor McGregor ‘Money’ Fight

Charles Oliveira would be willing to give up a chance at the lightweight title against Islam Makhachev for a fight against Conor McGregor. ‘Do Bronx’ is scheduled to face dangerous up-and-coming lightweight prospect Arman Tsarukyan in a lightweight title eliminator at the historic UFC 300 anniversary mega-card.

The winner of their bout will get a shot at the lightweight gold, with champion Makhachev having confirmed that he would face the winner of Oliveira-Tsarukyan. The Brazilian, who lost his lightweight title to the Dagestani at UFC 280 and was scheduled to rematch him at UFC 294 but had to pull out due to an injury. However, he would be willing to give up a shot at the highest honor in the sport to fight ‘Mac’, who has been inactive for the past three years and sitting on consecutive losses, in a dead rubber. But he had very good reasons for doing so.

Oliveira wants to face Conor McGregor after UFC 300

Charles Oliveira joined Mmafighitng.com for an interview to talk about his future. On being asked by the interviewer if he was given a choice by the UFC to fight either Islam Makhachev or Conor McGregor, the Brazilian didn’t hesitate in picking the latter. He felt that the money to be made would be too good to pass up and felt that he would still be in line to fight for the title after a bout against McGregor.

“I would absolutely go with Conor because of the money… you have to think ahead. Everything has to be discussed. When you sit at the table and there’s a contract, you say ‘Ok cool, I want this win. Am I next in line with this win?’… I want this, but where am I going next? With a win, you’re next. You’re putting way too much money in your bank account to live a good life, and then you’re fighting for the title. It doesn’t make any difference,” the former lightweight champion said.

However, how well a potential McGregor vs. Oliveira bout will go down with fans is quite unclear. Given that McGregor has fought just four times in the last six years, having lost all but one of them, combined with the long periods of inactivity and serious injury he suffered, the bout is not expected to be much of a contest for ‘Do Bronx’. And fans are unlikely to get very excited about the bout given the wide gulf in their recent form.

Oliveira coach is on board for a McGregor fight next

But, Oliveira and his team are fully on board with the idea of fighting McGregor if he defeats Tsarukyan at UFC 300. ‘Do Bronx’s coach, Diego Lima also suggested his student would be willing to eschew a title bout in favor of fighting the ‘incredible’ Conor McGregor.

“It’s incredible what McGregor does. So, a fight with him would be incredible… If we had the opportunity to fight McGregor at welterweight after this fight, we would fight McGregor. But how about the belt? Ok, we’ll fight for the belt after that, God willing.”

The coach also pointed out that the prospects of a fight between the two former champions would not be completely unexpected. Oliveira and McGregor have gone back and forth on social media in the recent past. Clearly, Oliveira and his team are angling for a bout against Conor McGregor next. However, the Irishman has no shortage of opponents he could face after a slated bout against Michael Chandler this summer. A quadrology with Dustin Poirier as well as a trilogy against Nate Diaz are very much on the horizon and have a lot of oven-ready hype behind them. What do you think about Oliveira wanting to face McGregor next?

Read More: Conor McGregor Submits Dope Test for Summer Return Just Days After Michael Chandler’s “Official” Stamp on Rumored Fight