LAS VEGAS – If [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] hasn’t convinced you of his greatness by now, the reigning UFC lightweight champion says he’s not worried about whether nor not you’ll eventually come around.
“I don’t care,” Oliveira told reporters, including MMA Junkie, through an interpreter following his UFC 269 title defense. I don’t care what people think. I don’t care what they say.
“I mean, look at what they’ve been saying about me. So they say, I can’t take hits. Look at what I’ve been doing. They say I quit. Look at what I’ve been doing. So I’m just going to continue to do what I do.”
Oliveira (32-8 MMA, 20-8 UFC) earn the UFC lightweight title in May, scoring a second-round TKO win over Michael Chandler to claim the vacant belt. But at Saturday’s UFC 269 event at T-Mobile Arena, “Do Bronx” entered the cage as the underdog to fan-favorite Dustin Poirier (28-7 MMA, 20-6 UFC).
The oddsmakers seemed to be on to something early, as Poirier’s vaunted boxing saw the challenger wobble Oliveira on a couple of occasions. But Oliveira gained control of the momentum in round two, turning to his superior grappling skills to dominate positioning for nearly the entirety of the frame, even earning 10-8 scores on two of three judges’ cards.
In the third, Oliveira started quickly and slipped straight to Poirier’s back, jumping up and locking in a fight-ending rear-naked choke 62 seconds into the round.
Oliveira said he wasn’t surprised to be tested early.
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“We respect each other a lot,” Oliveira said. “I respect him. It was a lot of study early on, but then as I said, I was going to have my arm raised, and that’s what happened.”
With the victory, Oliveira now has 10 consecutive victories, dating back to 2018. Perhaps even more impressively, he’s earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses in eight of those matchups.
“I’m here to make history,” Oliveira said.
Oliveira’s rise to champion has been a rather remarkable run by any standards, but when you couple it with the rollercoaster that was his UFC career from 2010 to 2017, where he bounced between the lightweight and featherweight divisions had a rather unremarkable 10-8 mark in the octagon, it’s made even more incredible.
Oliveira said it’s just the beginning.
“I want to make history,” Oliveira said. “I want to build a legacy.”
While nothing is official just yet, it appears Justin Gaethje is next in line to challenge for the title, and it’s conceivable that the matchup could end up developing some very distinct flavor in the build-up to the contest. After all, Gaethje has openly questioned Oliveira’s heart in previous interviews.
Still, Oliveira said he’s not motivated by any sort of rivalry element. Instead, Oliveira is only fueled by becoming the best version of himself possible, and he thinks many more great days lie ahead.
“I don’t care,” Oliveira said. “I come here and I do it. I’m not on the Internet, I’m not on Twitter, I’m not on Facebook trying to show people what’s going on. I’m here. I’m the champion.
“I have this belt. I’m going to keep defending it. I don’t care what people say. I’m going to do me.
To see the full interview with Oliveira, check out the video above.
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