Charles Oliveira speaks out on UFC 294 title fight withdrawal

Charles Oliveira has explained his decision to withdraw from his scheduled lightweight title matchup with Islam Makhachev at UFC 294.

Oliveira apparently suffered an injury during training that forced him to withdraw, opening the door for 145-poud king Alexander Volkanovski to step in. Taking to his Instagram, Oliveira revealed a clash of heads that resulted in a deep cut was the reason for his withdrawal from the fight.

“Some of you already know that I’m out of the upcoming UFC Abu Dhabi card,” Oliveira said. “In my final training in Brazil before traveling, I clashed heads in training and suffered a deep cut that needed eight or nine stitches, something like that, I don’t know for sure. It’s a cut too deep to be able to fight, to recover in such a short time and be able to put on a great fight.”

He further explained that the decision for him to pull out was a joint one alongside his team and the UFC, as they want Oliveira to be fully healthy for his next scrap. It remains to be seen if the Brazilian will still be given a shot at the title upon his return.

“Everybody knows about the importance of this fight,” Oliveira said. “It’s not just a fight, it’s a title fight, so there were great things involved. We didn’t want to go there unprepared. I know many people will judge, many people will talk, but it’s an important fight for us and we couldn’t be there at our 80 percent, we had to be 120 percent ready for it.”

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As for Makhachev, he’ll now take on Volkanovski in a rematch at UFC 294 that mixed martial arts (MMA) fans have been clamoring for. The pair first met back in February, where Makhachev put his 155-pound title up for grabs. When it was all said and done, Makhachev retained after a very competitive bout, but many suggest the judges may have got the decision wrong.

Now, Volkanovski will get a second crack at the champion, and an opportunity to become one of a few dual-weight champions in UFC history.