Dana White has already begun pushing for the next UFC lightweight championship fight, and the matchup he wants to see is Charles Oliveira v Islam Makhachev 2. He made the announcement almost immediately after Oliveira’s last fight, but it wasn’t all that surprising really. Oliveira put in a phenomenal display of both grappling and striking before finishing Beneil Dariush all inside of just one round. This was just one of many fantastic performances that Oliveira has had over the last few years, and seeing it caused White to reflect on just how far he had come:
“Incredible performance, especially against Beneil (Dariush), who a lot of people thought was going to win this fight. Incredible. If you look at how that guy turned his career around from 2016 to today, he’s a completely different fighter. What he has accomplished in the last however many years has been unbelievable. What’s it been, seven, eight years? It’s amazing what he’s done, and he looked like a world-beater tonight. I’m excited for him and Islam to fight again.”
Given that Oliveira’s last appearance before this saw him submitted in a title-fight against Islam Makhachev in stunning fashion, a rematch was always on the cards with a win against Dariush. Not only did the method of victory seal the deal, but he’s also aided by the fact that Dariush was the only other clear challenger in the division. White seems to think along the same lines:
“I’m just saying, it’s a thing that makes sense… Let’s not play games, that fight makes sense, that’s the fight that should happen, and I’m excited to see it again.”
Nothing is a done deal yet of course, as Charles Oliveira v Islam Makhachev 2 is still very much in the earliest stages of negotiation. White is aware of that himself, as he explained that anything could go wrong before two men are able to step into the cage against one another:
“There’s a lot of things that go into consideration for the next fight. I’m sitting here talking to you right now and I don’t even know what’s wrong with him. He’s in medicals, I don’t know where he’s at, I don’t know what he’s got planned over the summer, the list goes on and on of things that factor into how fights are made. But I’m just telling you right here, right now, it’s a fight I’d like to see again.”
The full interview with Dana White where he expressed his desire to see Charles Oliveira v Islam Makhachev 2 was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of MMAFighting:
