Charles Oliveira wanted to fight Conor McGregor instead of Islam Makhachev

KARACHI: Charles Oliveira revealed that he was forced to accept Islam Makhachev's challenge even though he preferred a matchup with Conor McGregor.

Oliveira lost his 155-pound title in May after failing to make weight for his title defence against Justin Gaethje.

Despite this, he prevailed in the match and got the opportunity to try to recapture the now-vacant title. The opponent he will face at UFC 280 on October 22 in Abu Dhabi will be Russian challenger Makhachev.

"I didn’t want this fight. Everyone knows it," Oliveira said. "I wanted the big payment from the other fight. However, everyone knows that I’m a UFC employee. You can’t escape that. So we tried to negotiate from every angle."

"I would have chosen Conor if I could but he is silent. So what popped up instead was Makhachev and he deserves all the respect in the world," he added.

"But look at my last eleven fights and look at Makhachev's last ten fights, what he does best is putting people on the ground. If he does that again he will be putting down the biggest finisher in UFC history," the Brazilian maintained.

Meanwhile, McGregor will be making his Hollywood debut alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in a remake of the classic movie Road House.

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