Ali Abdelaziz questions Charles Oliveira being given title shot against Ilia Topuria over Justin Gaethje and Arman Tsarukyan

Charles Oliveira should not be fighting for the vacant lightweight title against Ilia Topuria at UFC 317. That is, at least, according to Dominance MMA president Ali Abdelaziz, who argued in favor of his client, Justin Gaethje, receiving the title shot, and of Arman Tsarukyan, albeit to a lesser extent.

He made the statement in a recent ESPN MMA interview with Brett Okamoto. He claimed, much like 'The Highlight' himself, that Gaethje is 3-1 in his last four fights, and thus more deserving of a lightweight title fight than the 2-2 Oliveira.

"Charles Oliveira is 2-2 in his last four fights. Justin Gaethje is 3-1 in his last four fights. Gaethje gave up his tiitle shot, stepped in during International Fight Week against Max Holloway, and KO'd Dustin Poirier. Poirier beat #12 [Benoît Saint Denis] to get a title shot."

He added:

During Fight Week, [Dan] Hooker got injured, and we fought [Rafael] Fiziev for the second time. I think Arman is more deserving than Oliveira. I don't think Oliveira is the toughest for him. I think he walks through Oliveira."

Check out Ali Abdelaziz's thoughts on Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira below (11:06):

The case for Gaethje is a questionable one. While he is indeed 3-1 in his last four fights, he has just one win since being knocked out by Max Holloway, a former featherweight. Furthermore, his win came over a very short-notice Rafael Fiziev, whom he had already beaten and was ranked outside of the top 10.

Rebounding from a brutal knockout loss by beating a short-notice foe who was not only ranked outside of the top 10, but also coming off a two-year layoff due to injury and was someone he had beaten before, isn't a strong case. Tsarukyan, though, is well-deserving of a title shot, despite falling out of favor with the UFC.

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Charles Oliveira has fought for a vacant lightweight title before

UFC 317 will mark the second instance of Charles Oliveira competing for a vacant lightweight title, with Islam Makhachev set to relinquish the belt. Curiously, the first time, which was at UFC 262, was also due to a dominant Dagestani wrestler, in this case Khabib Nurmagomedov, giving up the title.

Check out Charles Oliveira TKO'ing Michael Chandler below:

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom faced Michael Chandler in a thrilling encounter, which saw him survive a disastrous Round 1, during which he was hurt badly. At the beginning of Round 2, though, a recovered Oliveira dropped Chandler with a picture-perfect left hook, before pouncing with ground-and-pound for the win.