Dana White: Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira 2 Won't Headline UFC 297 amid Rumors

A rematch between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira will not not headline Toronto's UFC 297 in January, Dana White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto on Sunday.

While White said Oliveira remains the most likely challenger for Makhachev's lightweight belt, he added that, "Anything is possible, it's whenever both are ready."

Makhachev's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told Okamoto that the lightweight champion wouldn't be ready to defend his title until March 9 at the earliest.

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani posted on Saturday that the plan was to have Makhachev face Oliveira at UFC 297, with Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria originally scheduled to be the main event but that fight pushed back to February.

He added that Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva, for the vacant women's bantamweight title, is also scheduled for UFC 297.

Makhachev, 32, defeated Oliveira at UFC 280 in Oct. 2022 by submission in the second round, winning the vacant lightweight belt. He then defended his title against Alexander Volkanovski twice, beating him by unanimous decision at UFC 284 in February and by a first-round knockout in October at UFC 294.

He is now 25–1 in his professional MMA career and 13-1 in the UFC.

Oliveira, 34, won the lightweight title at UFC 262 in May 2021, defeating Michael Chandler by TKO. He defended it against Dustin Poirier but was stripped of his belt after missing weight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 in May 2022, though he won the fight by submission.

Since his loss to Makhachev he beat Beneil Dariush by TKO at June's UFC 289, extending his UFC record for finishes to 20.

Makhachev and Oliveira were originally going to stage their rematch at UFC 294, but Oliveira suffered a cut during a training session that forced him to withdraw. He told reporters he was surprised by the reports of a January rematch and hadn't been approached with any offers, but that he wanted to reclaim his title.

"You'll see the Charles you always see, always going forward, always going for the submission, for the knockout, going for the win," Oliveira said. "I want to be champion. I want to be the next champion. That's what I want."