With UFC 288 Looming, Charles Oliveira Coach Hopes to Earn Makhachev Rematch

After relinquishing the lightweight crown to Islam
Makhachev at UFC 280, Charles
Oliveira is scheduled to return to the Octagon against Beneil
Dariush at UFC
288.

Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, likes the matchup.

“That was the fight that made sense for us,” Lima said. “Dariush is
coming from an impressive sequence and is a complete fighter. Good
everywhere, just like Charles. I have no doubt it’s going to be a
great war that will not last three rounds.

While the fight with Dariush will be tough, the Chute Boxe leader
still dreams about a rematch with Makhachev for Oliveira.

“Sooner or later that fight must happen,” he said.
“Unfortunately that was not our night. Everything we
planned didn’t work out, but Charles is training harder than
ever and evolving everywhere. If that rematch happens, you can bet
it will be a different fight. But the level in the UFC is
really high. Let´s have one [battle at a time]. Our focus now
is to beat Beneil.”

According to Lima, the title loss did not impact Oliveira’s
standing with the fans.

“Charles was the second most-searched Brazilian athlete on Google
in 2022,” Lima said. “If you imagine a year of the soccer World Cup
and how popular soccer is in Brazil, that’s just unbelievable.
And the most impressive is that recognition is worldwide.
We were expelled from a shopping mall in Abu Dhabi because Charles
was ‘attacked’ by fans. Something similar happened in a
shopping mall in Rio [de Janeiro] in the fight week of UFC
[284].”

Even with Oliveira losing his belt, Lima has plenty of reason to
celebrate the accomplishments of his athletes competing in the
world’s largest MMA promotion.

“We are proving that a Brazilian fighter doesn’t need to leave
the country to be a top contender. Today I have 45 professional
athletes, nine in the UFC. In our last six fights in the UFC we got
four bonuses … That means we are on the right path and I’m
sure 2023 will be an even better year.”