Oliveira seeks UFC 300 win for another shot at Makhachev

MANILA, Philippines – UFC 300 is stacked and loaded with fighters going for a championship and others looking to regain their throne. As such, not everyone can be in the main card. 

Some are just grateful to be back in the thick of mixed martial arts and have learned to be patient and to bid their time.

Charles Oliveira is one such fighter. He is ranked No. 1 in the lightweight rankings right behind champion Islam Makhachev. 

Oliveira (34-9-0, 1 no contest) will go up against Georgian-Russian Arman Tsarukyan (21-3-0) in a lightweight match in the milestone UFC 300 slated Sunday, April 14, with the main card scheduled for 10 a.m. 

After losing his title to Makhachev in UFC 280 in October 2022, Oliveira bounced back with a huge win over Beneil Dariush in UFC 289 in June 2023. A win against the fourth-ranked Tsarukyan will put him on a collision course once more with Makhachev.

In spite of the win, Charles had to endure a long layoff as he had to recuperate from an injury. But he is here and, like always, is grateful. 

“I had an injury before the last fight. I am grateful as I have since recovered and am ready to go. I always train to be the lion that I am that is forever going forward, looking for war, and never backing down,” declared Oliveira. “I keep working on breaking records and building a legacy in the UFC.”

Legacy. 

Whatever the outcome, Oliveira is secured as one of the sport’s if not the UFC’s greatest. And for the youth of Brazil, an inspiration.

“The word I have for this fight and opportunity is ‘gratitude’,” he emphasized. “To be in my 14th year in the UFC, I am grateful for the opportunity. Some people do not even last beyond one fight.”

“I give it up to the Lord Jesus. It is about happiness with what you are doing and being daring.”

And to crib the motto from the British Sea Air Service, “who dares, wins”. 

Daring too is Tsarukyan, who is in fine form having won three straight and is 8-2 in the UFC. The Georgian-Russian collects post-match bonuses having won three Performance of the Night Awards and two Fight of the Night awards and bonuses.

Oliveira, of course, wrote the book on Performance of the Night Awards, having chalked up 10 of them. 

“I am just here to get back what is mine (the lightweight championship),” he said of his goals for 2024. “The dream is to be a champion. To show people you can be who you want to be if you work hard to follow your dreams.” 

“I used to live in the back of my grandma’s house in a room for six people. Every step of my journey is to improve my family’s life and to achieve my goals.”

And on Sunday, Oliveira will get that chance again in UFC 300. To reach a milestone in a milestone event. 

UFC 300 will be televised live in the Philippines on the Premier Sports channel on Sky Cable and Cignal as well as streaming application Blast TV. The early prelims begins at 6 a.m., the prelims at 8 a.m., and the main card at 10 a.m.