Charles Oliveira says he’s not mentally affected by his UFC 274 weight miss, despite being stripped of the lightweight title.
Oliveira missed weight by half a pound yesterday and was forced to relinquish his UFC lightweight title as well as a portion of his UFC 274 fight purse. In addition, ‘Do Bronx’ is no longer eligible to obtain the promotions vacant 155lbs strap when he squares off with Justin Gaethje this evening in Phoenix.
Adding to Friday’s chaos was the fact that multiple fighters claimed there were issues with the weigh scales in Phoenix (see that here). Despite the shocking turn of event, Charles Oliveira says he’s in a good place.
“If they thought it was going to frustrate me, they’re going to see a Charles 10 times better,” Oliveira said in Portuguese to ESPN (h/t MMAFighting). “I’m ready for this. The champion’s name is Charles Oliveira, there’s no one else.”
“I made weight Thursday night. Man, we’re not here to make up stories. I swear in the name of my daughter, the most important thing in my life. I made weight on UFC’s scale on Thursday night, like I do every time. On Friday morning, we went there [to check the weight] and it was 1kg [2,2 pounds] over. I said, ‘This is crazy. I’ve not drunk or eaten anything, I have to be lower than that. You’re crazy.’ And we started this war [cutting weight again].”
Charles Oliveira continued:
“Every other fighter [said] the same thing, 300g or 500g [0.6 to 1.1 pounds] over. We saw that they even told the commission it was over, and they never told us. And still, as the champion, I dedicated to cut the weight and there was 0,5 pounds left, which is the exact 0,5 pounds over in the scale. The champion has a name and his name is Charles Oliveira. I came here to once again show why I’m the champion, and I’ll show it.”
Despite being given an extra hour to shed the half pound, Charles Oliveira was unable to change his weight.
“I had already made weight, so your head isn’t there anymore. I went to the sauna, I hit pads, I did everything because I’m the champion. The champion has to do everything to make weight, even thought I had already made it [before]. I did everything. I sacrificed, but the scale didn’t even move. I weighed in the first time with underwear on and came in that weight, and I took that off and it was the same weight. There’s no explanation. But the champion has a name and his name is Charles Oliveira. I came here to once again show my story of overcoming and I’ll overcome once more time.”
Do you think Charles Oliveira will go on to defeat Justin Gaethje in tonight’s UFC 274 main event?