Islam Makhachev, surprisingly, wants to train with Charles Oliveira. The Dagestani had dethroned Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 two years ago to become the new and reigning lightweight champion of the UFC. Since then, it almost seems like fate has kept the two from a rematch, even as both men, the fans, and even Dana White were on board.

The two were scheduled to rematch at UFC 294 last year, but a last-minute injury forced Oliveira to pull out days before the Abu Dhabi card. Following this, Oliveira was booked opposite the young and dangerous Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in a title eliminator that ‘Do Bronx’ lost via decision. The Armenian had announced his arrival at the top of the 155-pound division with a fantastic first-round knockout of Beneil Dariush last year and was given the opportunity for a number one title contender status at UFC as a reward for this performance.

Now, the fight seems even more remote as Islam Makhachev, at a press conference ahead of his UFC 302 clash against Dustin Poirier, has invited the Brazilian to Dagestan, where he offered to help ‘Do Bronx’ work on his wrestling, which is somewhat of a specialty in Dagestan. “Charles is a good guy, if I can help him, he can join us in our camp in Dagestan. He has very good striking, we can help him with wrestling,” Makhachev told reporters during UFC 302 media day.

This, of course, is another indication that despite their differences in the past, with Makhachev having implied Oliveira pulled out of UFC 294 to avoid fighting him, there is tremendous respect between the two lightweights. And with Oliveira having accepted Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington‘s call-out for a welterweight clash, ‘Do Bronx’ will not go amiss if accepts Makhachev’s offer.

Covington is, after all, one of the best wrestlers in the promotion and will most likely use his superior size to good effect by trying to chain wrestle the Brazilian, if they fight. While that fight is still up in the air, Makhachev-Poirier is booked for UFC 302, and Oliveira has made his predictions for the fight between two of his old foes.

Charles Oliveira picks Makhachev to win at UFC 302

Islam Makhchev will defend his UFC lightweight title for the first time against a fellow 155-pounder on June 1 in the main event of UFC 302. And Charles Oliveira, with the usual disclaimers of MMA’s unpredictability, and after giving the due acknowledgment to ‘The Diamond’s historically great striking, ultimately picked the champion to emerge victorious. This, he believed, would come about because of his superior wrestling and Poirier’s lack of a ground game.

“Every striker that faces Islam is going to be the same thing, [Islam] will take you down and have bigger chances at winning. But we’re talking about MMA, and one hand, one strike that lands, can definitely get you the victory. 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 remains as champion,” ‘Do Bronx’ said in an interview with MMA Fighting.

What are your predictions for UFC 302? Let us know in the comments below.