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Combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani and well-known MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz engaged in a fiery argument on social media regarding what event will be headlined by Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira 2.
At UFC 294, Makhachev defended his UFC lightweight title for a second time in a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski. The Russian was initially supposed to fight Oliveira, but the latter suffered a severe cut, leading to the matchup being postponed.
Now that Makhachev defeated Volkanovski on short notice, the UFC is expected to reschedule the original UFC 294 main event. The question is, when will the highly-anticipated rematch take place?
On Saturday, November 4, Ariel Helwani posted the following update on Twitter:
“The current plan - though not finalized just yet - is to have Islam Makhachev x Charles Oliveira 2 - headline UFC 297. That event, while not officially announced yet, is currently slated to Jan. 20 in Toronto. The original plan for that main was Volkanovski x Topuria, but now the plan is for that to be on the February PPV. Raquel Pennington x Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant 135 title also scheduled for that January card, as reported yesterday.”
Islam Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, responded by debunking Helwani’s rumors:
“Fake news @MAKHACHEVMMA fighting Charles Oliveira in January”
Abdelaziz and Helwani don’t have a good relationship. In fact, Abdelaziz doesn’t let most of his superstar fighters do interviews on Helwani’s show called “The MMA Hour.” As a result, Abdelaziz followed up his message to Helwani on Twitter by saying:
“Guys, please don’t listen to people can’t even get credentials to UFC events fake news b*tch”
Ariel Helwani responded to Ali Abdelaziz’s personal attack with similar energy:
“Hey at least I can get on a plane and leave the country”
Ali Abdelaziz advocates for Justin Gaethje to get next UFC lightweight title shot
Charles Oliveira is expected to get the next UFC lightweight title shot despite the complicated politics in the MMA business. With that said, Ali Abdelaziz has begun advocating for another one of his clients, Justin Gaethje, to fight Islam Makhachev next.
Abdelaziz had this to say on Twitter:
“Charles Oliveira don’t deserve nothing @Justin_Gaethje next”
Justin Gaethje last fought on July 29, defeating Dustin Poirier with a second-round head-kick knockout for the BMF title. Due to the magnitude of his win, Gaethje will most likely fight for the UFC lightweight title in his next Octagon appearance. The question is, will his opportunity come before or after Charles Oliveira?
According to Ali Abdelaziz’s initial report, Gaethje will have to wait until after the rematch between Islam Makhachev and Oliveira.
