Charles Oliveira is as focused as he’s ever been on UFC 309, and cementing a career legacy that will last for generations to come.
Oliveira meets Michael Chandler in a rematch this Saturday in the five-round co-main event of UFC 309, which takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York. While “Du Bronx” is focused on the rematch with Chandler for the opportunity to fight for the lightweight title, Oliveira knows another rematch could be in his future with Max Holloway, now that the BMF champ is moving up to lightweight following his knockout loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308.
“I’m about legacy,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “That’d be great. Why not? As I’m talking about [legacy], I mean, being the BMF champ would be gigantic for that.”
In his first go-around with Holloway, Oliveira suffered an injury 1:39 into the fight, which gave Holloway a TKO victory.
Oliveira’s history with Chandler is a bit different. In May 2021, Oliveira faced Chandler for the vacant lightweight title, and after a tough first round, he battled back to stop Chandler to win his first UFC title at UFC 262.
Chandler was linked with Conor McGregor for nearly two years, and the fight was booked to take place at UFC 303 in June before McGregor was forced to withdraw with an injury.
When Oliveira was presented with Chandler, he wasn’t surprised, nor would he be with any opponent the UFC offered up.
“Listen, I’m ready, happy, very motivated,” Oliveira said. “I’m just waiting for the day to come.
“I just love the opportunity. I’m always ready for a fight and I think that whatever the UFC says, I’m ready to go. They know I’m ready to fight and I know that I’m winning this fight and I’m next in line [for the title]. That’s how I feel.”
Oliveira looks to get back in the win column after losing a decision to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in April. Tsarukyan will likely face Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title next, but if Oliveira can defeat Chandler, Oliveira puts himself in a great position to try to reclaim his spot on the lightweight throne.
As focused as he is on the task at hand, Oliveira does look back on his first meeting with Chandler with fondness, and hopes to use that performance to deliver one even better at The World’s Most Famous Arena.
“Without a shadow of doubt, the spirit of that [first] fight [is with me] and it’s just always [focusing on] getting to this fight, pushing forward, coming out with the win, [and to make sure that my hand is raised,” Oliveira explained.
“Listen, we train all the time. We try to get ready. So I want to be ready, but our idea is to be better. It doesn’t matter what we did before, we are going to be better than the last time. That’s what I do. That’s what I train for, and no matter what happens, I want to have my hand raised on Saturday.”
