Oliveira ‘Had His Shot And Didn’t Show Up’

Islam Makhachev is still waiting to get his next Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight title defense booked.

2023 was a solid year for the Dagestani destroyer, Makhachev, who secured his first two title defenses as the 155-pound kingpin. In back-to-back efforts, Makhachev turned back his fellow pound-for-pound great, the Featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, first by unanimous decision (watch highlights) and then a first round head kick knockout (watch highlights).

Volkanovski was never originally scheduled to rematch Makhachev in their recent October 2023 encounter. Instead, Makhachev was set to rematch the man he won the title from in October 2022, Charles Oliveira, until “Do Bronx” suffered a bad cut over his eyes that forced his withdrawal. The division saw a different champion crowned a few months earlier, however, when Justin Gaethje scored an impressive head kick win of his own in a rematch against Dustin Poirier at UFC 291 in July 2023 (watch highlights). The win put Gaethje back on a winning streak and put him in position for another possible title shot. Unsurprisingly, “The Highlight” still believes he should be next in line.

“Waiting on the call,” Gaethje tweeted. “Ready when you are @ufc @danawhite Let’s see who can kick the others head off first @MAKHACHEVMMA Do Bronx had his shot and didn’t show up for the rematch. It is what it is.”

Despite UFC CEO, Dana White, claiming Oliveira will still be next for Makhachev after his last win over Volkanovski, the champion has recently expressed how he’d rather get a fresh face like Gaethje. Makhachev, 32, is currently riding a dominant 13-fight winning streak since his first and only loss (25-1) to Adriano Martins in October 2015.