In a sit-down interview, former Lightweight king Charles Oliveira reacts to former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria’s apology for the trash talk that he will likely spew at the Brazilian MMA icon. Oliveira dismissed flippantly as he claimed he’d heard it all before” in his interview. The former champion stated the following:
“Been in there for 15 years, I’ve seen a lot of these guys say a lot of things. That I give up. That I’m going to lose. That they’re going to knock me out. And then when the time comes they don’t do anything.
The evolution of Charles Olviera has been quite the sight to behold. When he was a young fighter, he would seemingly give up and be bested by many names in his early career, such as Cub Swanson and Jim Miller, and even tap to strikes against Paul Felder. To go from that to an 11-fight win streak culminating in a lightweight title win against Michael Chandler, beating the likes of Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier, is quite the turnaround for any fighter.
Charles Oliveira has yet another mountain to climb.
Many doubt the Brazilian phenom against top competition, and it seems that won’t change anytime soon. Against Ilia Topuria, Oliveira is the underdog. Especially with the Spanish-Georgian having won over two of the greatest featherweights in the sport’s history and having knockout power even at lightweight. Charles Oliveira has yet another mountain to climb against the super well-rounded young master in Topuria at UFC 317.
