Both Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira will be heading to Abu Dhabi prior to their lightweight title fight at UFC 294, which will take place later this month. The bout will serve as the main event of the card.
The promotion company has not yet made a formal announcement on the fighter who would serve as the backup for the pay-per-view main event. On the other hand, an up-and-coming lightweight contender by the name of Mateusz Gamrot announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he, too, would be going to Abu Dhabi.
Following yesterday night’s event, UFC Vegas 80, Dana White was questioned about Gamrot’s assertion that he was the backup fighter for the fight between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. White was asked to either confirm or reject Gamrot’s allegation.
This is what the president of the promotion had to say:
“Yeah, sure… yeah, you heard me say yeah. It is correct.”
Watch the video starting at 2:55 down below:
On the platform X, Mateusz Gamrot penned the following:
“See you in Abu Dhabi”Tweet from Gamrot, captured in this screen image
Tweet captured on screen from Gamrot
Gamrot recently defeated Rafael Fiziev by technical knockout in the second round. The victory came about when ‘Ataman’ tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while delivering a kick, which prompted the referee to step in.
After UFC Vegas 79, ‘Gamer’ was criticized for cheering after Fiziev was injured. Both fans and competitors thought it was in poor taste, and the criticism came after the event.
The UFC decided to give Gamrot the backup position after he won his last two fights in a row, leaving Justin Gaethje as the only other probable challenger. Gamrot’s string of victories was enough for the UFC to make this decision.
‘The Highlight’ would like to have a full training camp behind him should he have the chance to fight for the title, given that he has stated that he will have one more shot at the lightweight belt before possibly retiring. Should he have the chance to fight for the title, “The Highlight” would want to have the chance to defend his title.
Islam Makhachev claims Charles Oliveira tried to avoid the UFC 294 clash
In the main event of UFC 294, Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira will compete against each other to determine who will become the new lightweight title. At the previous meeting between these two, which took place at UFC 280, Makhachev won through submission in the second round against Oliveira.
Makhachev went on to win his next fight, which was against Alexander Volkanovski, and Oliveira won his most recent bout, which was against Beneil Dariush. Both men went on to win their subsequent fights.
In the aftermath of the Brazilian’s victory over Dariush at UFC 288, the latter announced that he wouldn’t be ready for another fight until November.
Several weeks later, the main event of UFC 294 was confirmed to be between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira, which led to rumors that ‘Do Bronx’ was coerced into taking the fight.
Since Makhachev stated the following in a recent interview, it would appear that he has provided confirmation of the rumors:
“He tried to [escape] from this fight, but the UFC told him, ‘Hey man, you have to come to Abu Dhabi and fight for the belt.'” “He tried to [escape] from this fight, but the UFC told him that he had to.” The end, as they say. In the end, he complied with the UFC’s demands and abandoned his plans to leave the country and shift the fight to Brazil. The same goes for me; whatever the UFC instructed me to do, I did.
Watch the video starting at 4:15 down below:
As the two competitors get ready for their bout at UFC 294, one can anticipate that it will be a close fight and that it will be difficult to determine who will emerge victorious.
