B/R Exclusive: Charles Oliveira on Being 'Robbed' and Setting Record Straight at UFC

Given the hubbub surrounding his most recent weigh-in five months ago, you might think Charles Oliveira is out for redemption as he approaches UFC 280 this weekend.

But you’d be wrong.

In fact, not only is the decorated Brazilian not feeling a need for salvation or image restoration, he remains particularly defiant when recounting what went down at UFC 274.

And, he told Bleacher Report, he doesn’t much care if anyone sees it differently.

"Honestly, I just feel like people who have it in mind that I didn’t make weight are just not saying the truth," he said. "I did make weight. I was robbed. I made weight and it was clear to everyone.

"If that still isn’t clear to someone, then I don’t know. I made weight. I was robbed. There was a mistake on the scale. It wasn’t on me. So I don’t think about that."

Lest anyone forget, Oliveira arrived in Arizona as the UFC’s top man at 155 pounds and was preparing to meet then-top contender Justin Gaethje in his second title defense at the Footprint Center in Phoenix when the reign was cut short by an alleged half-pound weight miss.

He became the first champion in the promotion’s history to be stripped for such an infraction but went ahead with the fight anyway and submitted Gaethje by rear-naked choke in three minutes, 22 seconds.

The rear-naked choke Oliveira secured in the first round spelled the end for Gaethje in May (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

He complained long and loud in the aftermath, as did several other fighters on the card, that the scale they’d used to monitor their weight in advance of the Friday weigh-in was not accurate and thus contributed to the miss.

Oliveira weighed in at 155.5 pounds during the initial time window provided by the UFC and came in at the same weight on a second attempt an hour later.

UFC czar Dana White immediately reset Oliveira as the No. 1 contender following the victory—his 11th straight since 2018—and he’ll get a first chance at a second title run when he meets fourth-ranked Islam Makhachev, who has won 10 in a row of his own since his first octagonal year in 2015.

The bout will top a stacked pay-per-view card set for Saturday afternoon (U.S. time) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, which was christened "Fight Island" during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

But if Oliveira’s forgiven the brass for the defrocking, it’s not completely without acrimony.

"I just felt disrespected," he said. "It’s not just the belt, it’s everything.

"It’s the whole path to get to the belt. My whole story. I was disrespected. But now it’s all in the past. Now it’s behind us. Now I’m focused on what’s next. And what would have been just another title defense became something even bigger and now I’m looking ahead."

Ah yes, that title defense.

Nurmagomedov was front and center in Makhachev's corner for his defeat of Bobby Green in February (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Makhachev is a training partner of former lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov and has scored six finishes in his win streak, including three submissions and a TKO in his last four fights.

Oliveira, meanwhile, is the UFC’s all-time leader in both finishes (19) and submissions (16) and has a TKO and two choke-outs in his last three appearances against Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Gaethje, respectively, each of whom was favored to beat him.

Those three wins followed a breakout unanimous decision over a then-still relevant Tony Ferguson—who was also a betting favorite—in the co-main event at UFC 256 in 2020.

Makhachev is a -180 pick (bet $180 to win $100) to win in his first championship opportunity.

And coming in as the B-side is all the motivation Oliveira needs.

"It’s actually great. I can show people that they are wrong," he said.

"And I can make my fans and make myself some money. Everyone who’s betting on me is making a lot of money, so it’s actually great. My whole life has been that way. People have doubted me.

Oliveira's defeat of Ferguson in 2020 was the catalyst for a first career title shot five months later (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

"People have said no, and I’ve shown them yes. Of course, nobody likes to be in that place of just being doubted, but I’ve proved them wrong every single time."

A native of the Russian region of Dagestan, Makhachev is an ex-world champion in combat sambo—a martial art and sport developed by the Soviet Red Army to improve hand-to-hand combat abilities.

He employs a grappling-heavy style that’s similar to Nurmagomedov, who retired in 2020, but augments it with an effective stand-up striking attack that’s yielded four KOs in 22 career wins.

Nurmagomedov insists his charge will "roll over" Oliveira, but it’s hardly a surprise that the 33-year-old now occupying fifth on the UFC’s all-time win list (21) and third on its most recent pound-for-pound list foresees a different ending.

And the third-degree jiu-jitsu black belt promises to not spend much time dwelling on it.

"Everything that happened, happened. Now we have a new opponent and I’m just looking ahead," he said. "Islam deserves respect for everything that he has done. But my focus is on myself. I don’t really focus on what he can do, I’m more about what I can do.

"If I’m well prepared. If mentally, spiritually I am ready for the fight. That’s where I focus."