Charles Oliveira is revealing what Khabib Nurmagomedov told him in a post-fight exchange at UFC 280.
It was Charles Oliveira (33-9 MMA) vs Islam Makhachev (23-1 MMA) in the lightweight main event this past Saturday night, October 22nd in the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The championship belt was on the line and Makhachev took home the prize after a submission win at 3:16 of Round 2.
Prior to UFC 280, Oliveira was stripped of his lightweight title after failing to make weight for a fight with Justin Gaethje (23-4 MMA) in May of this year at UFC 274.
Makhachev entered the cage with 10 wins in a row, and made it 11 this past Saturday.
It was in the lead up to the UFC 280 lightweight title fight that team Makhachev and team Oliveira exchanged barbs, as pre-fight camps often do.
However, after the loss, Khabib Nurmagomedov spoke with Oliveira and ‘Do Bronx’ shared what was said (h/t MMANews):
“This is a sport that we know exactly what it’s all about and we actually have to promote fights. And this is what we did. This is exactly what we did. And we understand the things we have to do to promote them. He (Nurmagomedov) came up to me and just basically said that everything was just promoting the fight, that he had respect for me.”
Continuing Oliveira concluded with words of praise to Khabib:
“And I mean, he is a great champion. He has an amazing journey in the sport. And now, he has a great champion next to him. And all he was doing was basically saying that he respects me, and that it was all part of the game, and that’s what it is.”
As for what is next for Oliveira, 33, time will tell, but he’s sure to rebound in the near future.
Makhachev, 31, has already made it known that he intends to meet up with Alexander Volkanovski (25-1 MMA) for the Number 1 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Were you watching UFC 280? What do you think of Khabib’s words to Oliveira post fight?
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