Charles Oliveira will face Michael Chandler at UFC 309 on 16th November. The American was expected to be Conor McGregor‘s next opponent but decided to stop waiting for the Irishman and move on with his career in the division. Does a win for the Brazilian mean “taking Chandler’s place” in a possible money fight against Conor? Not according to Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima.
“McGregor is not our focus right now; we always aim for the belt. We wouldn’t turn down the fight, of course, but we plan to fight for the belt in the summer of 2025, against Makhachev or Tsarukyan,” he revealed to the Brazilian website PVT.
Although they are making plans for 2025, Charles and his team know they cannot overlook Chandler. The American is ranked 4th in the lightweight division, while Charles is ranked 2nd. In 2021, they faced each other, and for two judges, Chandler scored a 10-8 in the first round but ended up losing by TKO 19 seconds into the second round.
“We knew Chandler starts the fight at a fast pace and that we would have to withstand the initial pressure. Charles held on; Chandler had given everything to win the fight in the first round and couldn’t handle Charles in the second. We’ll aim not to have the same scare in the next fight, win, and wait for the title shot,” said Lima, who pointed out the favourite for the likely fight between champion Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan.
“I have a lot of respect for Arman; he deserves to be the next contender, even though Charles came closer to finishing the fight against him in three rounds. But there’s no way not to see Makhachev as the favourite.”
Charles Oliveira vs Michael Chandler is the co-main event of UFC 309, which will have Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic as the main fight. The event will take place at Madison Square Garden, in New York.
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