Tag Archives: UFC 294

Charles Oliveira to Fight Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300

Posted on by
Reply

Charles Oliveira has lined up his next opponent…

The 34-year-old  Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and third degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, a former lightweight champion, will look to solidify himself as the division’s next title challenger against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in April, per UFC CEO Dana White.

Charles OliveiraThe UFC has not announced a main event for UFC 300, but White has teased that it will be one of the best lineups in recent years.

The addition of Oliveira and Tsarukyan is significant.

The winner of the 155-pound contest will face defending champion Islam Makhachev this summer, according to White.

Oliveira (34-9) was supposed to challenge Makhachev in October but was forced to withdraw from their scheduled bout at UFC 294 due to a cut suffered in training.

The Brazilian lost his title to Makhachev in October 2022, but then earned a rematch by knocking out Beneil Dariush in July. Despite his loss to Makhachev just two fights ago, Oliveira is still the No. 1-ranked lightweight contender, with previous title wins against Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler.

Tsarukyan (21-3) has been a sleeper of the lightweight division for years. Born in Armenia and fighting out of Russia, Tsarukyan is 8-2 in the UFC. He made his UFC debut against Makhachev on short notice in 2019 and lost by unanimous decision.

He’s been relatively dominant since, though, and is coming off a 64-second knockout of Dariush in a main event slot in December.

Makhachev (25-1) has stated publicly that he will defend his belt against anyone but would prefer to avoid rematches. The Dagestani champ fought twice in 2023, defeating featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski twice. It would appear he’s due for at least one more rematch in 2024, having already beaten Oliveira and Tsarukyan previously.

White is expected to announce more bouts for UFC 300 this week. Welterweight champion Leon Edwards has already announced he intends to defend his belt on the card, although the UFC has not made that official.

Paulo Costa to Fight Undefeated Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294

Posted on by
Reply

Paulo Costa is switching opponents…

The 32-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist will face undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in the Octagon at 185 pounds at UFC 294 on October 21 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UFC president Dana White has announced.

Paulo CostaCosta and Chimaev are two of the most popular fighters in the UFC middleweight division.

The card will be headlined by a lightweight title rematch between champion Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. It’s unclear if the Chimaev-Costa bout will be the co-main event. 

Costa had been scheduled to fight Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291 next week in Salt Lake City, but was pulled from that fight to face Chimaev. Aliskerov will now fight at UFC 294 against Nassourdine Imavov.

ESPN has Chimaev ranked No. 4 in the world at welterweight, while Costa is rated No. 7 at middleweight.

Chimaev (12-0) has not fought since September, a first-round submission of Kevin Holland at UFC 279. He missed weight before what would have been a fight with Nate Diaz on that card before being given Holland as a replacement.

The Chechen-born fighter is 6-0 in the UFC with five finishes. Chimaev, 29, holds the UFC modern record for the fastest three-fight winning streak (66 days).

Costa (14-2) is coming off a unanimous decision over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 in August 2022. The Brazilian fighter snapped a two-fight losing streak with that victory. Costa has won six of his eight UFC fights with the lone losses coming to Marvin Vettori and champion Israel Adesanya in a title fight.

Charles Oliveira to Fight UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev in Highly Anticipated Rematch

Posted on by
Reply

Charles Oliveira is hoping to return to the champion’s circle…

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will defend his belt against the 33-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and 3rd degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, a former UFC lightweight champion.

Charles OliveiraThe rematch between Oliveira and Makhachev will be the main event of UFC 294 on October 21 in Abu Dhabi, UFC president Dana White revealed.

ESPN has Makhachev ranked No. 2 in the world pound-for-pound and Oliveira at No. 6. The two fought last October at UFC 280 with Makhachev submitting Oliveira in the second round to win the then-vacant UFC lightweight title.

Makhachev (24-1) is coming off a unanimous-decision win over featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 back in February. The Dagestan native has won 12 straight fights, all in the UFC.

Makhachev, 31, is the longtime training partner and student of former longtime lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Oliveira (34-9, 1 NC) beat Beneil Dariush via first-round TKO at UFC 289 last month to set up the rematch. The Brazilian-born fighter won the lightweight title in May 2021, beating Michael Chandler. But he missed weight in May 2022 before a fight with Justin Gaethje and was stripped of the belt.

Oliveira has the most finishes (20) and submission wins (16) in UFC history.

There had been speculation that Makhachev could face Volkanovski in an immediate rematch following Volkanovski’s dominant title defense against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 on July 8. But Oliveira had been the UFC’s top choice for this fight after running through Dariush last month.