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Charles Oliveira Says He Can Knock out Conor McGregor, Tap Nate Diaz in Same Night
May 10, 2022
Charles Oliveira had an eventful weekend at UFC 274, but he is already trying to find a new way to make history inside the Octagon.
Oliveira wrote on Twitter he can knock out Conor McGregor and submit Nate Diaz on the same show, even asking UFC president Dana White whether he would make it happen:
Oliveira was stripped of the lightweight title after missing weight prior to his bout with Justin Gaethje. He was also prohibited from winning the championship if he won the match, which he did via first-round submission.
Saturday's victory extended Oliveira's record for most career wins by submission (16) and most career finishes (19) by a UFC fighter. He is also the No. 1 contender for the 155-pound title, though it's unclear at this point who his next opponent will be.
Even though there is no chance Oliveira will actually be able to fight McGregor and Diaz on the same night, it's not without precedent for fighters to have multiple matches on the same card in UFC.
When the promotion first launched in 1993, UFC featured a tournament-style format without weight classes, rounds or judges. Royce Gracie won the first two tournaments by winning three matches at UFC 1 and four matches at UFC 2.
It wasn't until 1997 that UFC adopted weight classes. The promotion's first officially sanctioned event by a state's athletic commission was UFC 28 in November 2000.
ESPN's Brett Okamoto did suggest McGregor as a potential wild-card option as Oliveira's next opponent.
Diaz and McGregor are huge drawing cards and that gives them a lot of leeway, but their performance inside the cage doesn't warrant being put into a title fight right now. They have both lost each of their past two fights and are a combined 2-6 in their last eight fights overall.
Oliveira is in the midst of the best stretch of his career. The 32-year-old has won 11 consecutive fights dating back to 2018, with 10 of those victories coming via stoppage.