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Surging lightweight contender Charles Oliveira still has his eyes set on retired champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. In an interview with MMA Fighting, Charles Oliveira expressed his disagreement about Khabib being levels above the rest of the division. He predicted that beating Dustin Poirier in a title fight can give Khabib the necessary motivation to pursue a perfect 30-0 record against Charles Oliveira.
“He’s dominated everyone he’s fought, he’s beaten the big names in the division... But he hasn’t fought me, so he can’t say he’s levels above everyone. He can say he’s better than the ones he fought. Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, he fought them both, so he can say he’s better than those two, but he can’t say since he never fought me. Me beating Dustin Poirier and becoming champion, that could definitely entice him to return, and if he does, he goes straight for the belt”, Charles Oliveira said.
Charles Oliveira's remarks have come after Dustin Poirier defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 257 to reassert his relevance in the lightweight title picture, which is murky at the moment. Following Khabib's retirement in October 2020, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler have emerged as the top contenders with Conor McGregor, Tony Ferguson, Justin Gaethje and Dan Hooker close behind. The UFC has not made an official announcement about Khabib's status as the champion. 'The Eagle' has repeatedly expressed a lack of motivation as a reason to continue his retirement and even ventured into another business.
“There’s no competitive interest. They’re both former champions (Conor & Dustin) and I choked both of them out. I don’t want to fight them. There’s an Avarian proverb. ‘The horse doesn’t run until the donkey wins.’ Donkeys don’t even compete in horse races. I have no interest in going against them”, Khabib said in an interview with Russian media.
The winning streak of Charles Oliveira
Charles Oliveira is currently riding an eight-fight win streak with seven of those wins coming by way of finish. Oliveira rose to prominence after defeating perennial contender and former Interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson in December 2020 and has been actively pursuing a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Although Khabib has scored dominant wins against all of the opponents he has fought, a vast majority of MMA fans and experts believe that Charles Oliveira poses a severe threat to Khabib’s unbeaten record. This belief is due to his formidable Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and respectable striking. Khabib’s teammate and retired UFC lightweight Josh Thomson also believes that the Charles Oliveira fight would excite Khabib more than the Conor McGregor rematch.
