‘Emotional Stress’ Keeping ‘Do Bronx’ Off UFC Rio

After having his 11-fight win streak snapped, Charles Oliveira is taking some much needed time off, despite the UFC rolling into his home country in January.

Brazilian fans hoping to see Charles Oliveira start his comeback run at UFC 283 will be disappointed to learn “Do Bronx” won’t be competing at the event.

Oliveira just fought at UFC 280 on October 22, so it was always a long shot that he’d be capable of fighting again on January 21st when UFC 283 comes to Brazil. And apparently the UFC offered him a place on the card, but Oliveira and his team turned it down.

“When we were going to face Makhachev, we showed a lot of interest in fighting him in Rio,” Oliveira’s coach Diego Lima told Super Lutas (via Bloody Elbow). “One week after [UFC 280], the UFC got in touch with us. They gave us the opportunity to fight in Rio. They have always been really good to us. We have really good talks. It was up to us to accept or not.”

“I talked it over with Charles. He’s not injured, but there’s an emotional stress. It’s way beyond physical. Charles is the only fighter that has faced all the top 5 guys within a year. Champs normally hide, they want to fight once a year. That’s not Charles, but Rio is way too close now. We prefer to give Charles a well-deserved vacation.”

Oliveira has fought twice a year for the past two years. 2021 saw him beat Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier, while 2022 featured a win over Justin Gaethje and then the UFC 280 title loss to Islam Makhachev. He certainly deserved a break after facing that murderer’s row of opponents.

It is somewhat surprising to hear the UFC offering him an immediate rematch Makhachev. Was this offered before the UFC made Makhachev vs. Volkanovksi official for UFC 284? Had Makhachev agreed to this, or did it never get to the stage where they even asked him? Offering Charles Oliveira a fight at UFC 283 makes sense. An immediate rematch three months after Makhachev choked “Do Bronx” out in two rounds does not.

Oliveira and his team were even pushing for a spot on the Rio card before the loss to Makhachev. On UFC 280 fight week, he called Alexander Volkanovski out for back to back fights: Brazil in January and Australia in February.

“On this fight particularly, my timing is to actually fight in Brazil afterwards, regardless,” Oliveira said. “If we’re going to make this happen, Charles against Alexander Volkanovski, we’re gonna have it two ways. we’re gonna fight at 155, and then we’re gonna fight 145. So we’re going to fight in two weight divisions. I can fight [in Australia] in February, but for his belt.”

Now there’s no more talk of multiple weight divisions or back-to-back fights. Following his first loss since 2017, Charles is now recouping and preparing for a serious run to regain his belt. That doesn’t involve rushing and taking fights immediately.