Top Welterweight Suggests Charles Oliveira "Never Wanted To Fight" At UFC 294

This fighter didn't hold back with his comments about Oliveira's recent injury.

Author:
Drew Beaupré
Publish date:
Oct 18, 2023 10:20 AM EDT

Countless fans were devastated by the news that a cut had forced Charles Oliveira out of his rematch with Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, but Belal Muhammad apparently thinks things worked out exactly how the former lightweight champion wanted.

One of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster, Oliveira’s victory over Clay Guida in 2018 began a sensational run of wins that eventually saw the Brazilian claim the promotion’s vacant lightweight title at UFC 262.

“Do Bronx” unfortunately had to relinquish his belt when he missed weight ahead of what would have been his second title defense against Justin Gaethje, and Oliveira failed to reclaim the vacant title when he was submitted by Makhachev at UFC 280 last year.

Fans were excited to see the two lightweights run things back in the main event of UFC 294 before Oliveira had to withdraw less than two weeks out from the fight, and Muhammad has now openly questioned if “Do Bronx” actually wanted to step into the Octagon in Abu Dhabi.

Islam Makhachev Charles Oliveira — Oliveira was submitted in his first meeting with Makhachev.
(Craig Kidwell/USA TODAY Sports)

“Charles got what he wanted – he’s not fighting in Abu Dhabi,” Muhammad said on his Instagram. “As a fighter, you understand the game, right? The training is the hardest part. But, the biggest fight of your life, the biggest rematch of your life, you get a cut ten days before the fight in your eyebrow. Like, who are you training with, bro? I’ve been in the training room, I’ve seen it happen, right?”

Graphic photos of the cut Oliveira sustained in sparring certainly seem to indicate it was severe enough to take him off UFC 294, but “Remember the Name” was quick to cite another former lightweight champion that still fought after sustaining a similar injury.

Anthony Pettis UFC — Anthony Pettis was cut in training before a 2017 meeting with Dustin Poirier.
(Peter Casey/USA TODAY Sports)

“Anthony Pettis, before his fight with Dustin Poirier, one week before, he got split open. Eyebrow cut to the core…The world didn’t know about it. Anthony got it surgically repaired, stitched up. It opened up in the fight, but he still went in there and fought. To me, Charles never wanted to go to Abu Dhabi. He never wanted to fight in enemy territory, as he said. He wanted it where he wanted it. Do I say he did it purposely? Who knows, but he chose not to fight.”

Losing the highly-anticipated main event of UFC 294 so close to fight night could easily have thrown the card into disarray, but luckily featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski jumped at the chance for his own rematch with Makhachev after the pair previously headlined UFC 284.

It will be interesting to see if Oliveira or his team choose to respond to Muhammad’s suggestion in any fashion, especially considering what a contentious topic injuries have been ahead of UFC 294 after Paulo Costa was also forced to pull out of his co-main event booking against Khamzat Chimaev and was replaced by Kamaru Usman.

“The Eraser” has faced his own share of critics that have questioned whether he ever intended to compete in Abu Dhabi, and his manager recently released a gruesome photo of the infection to prove that Costa was in no condition to meet the unbeaten Chimaev.

If you use any quotes from this article, please leave an H/T to MMAKnockout.com for the transcription.

Stick with MMA Knockout for more daily coverage of the UFC and MMA.

Follow MMA Knockout on Twitter and Facebook.