Tag: Charles Oliveira

UFC 309 full fight card announced for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic event

How would you rate UFC 309 on a scale of 1-10?

With UFC 308 in the books, the promotion’s attention turns to its yearly New York pay-per-view.

UFC 309 takes place Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden and is headlined by a highly anticipated heavyweight title fight between champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and former champion [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag].

During the UFC 308 broadcast Saturday, the promotion officially announced the full 13-fight lineup with five main card fights and eight prelims. The main card takes place on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.

In the co-main event, lightweight stars [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] and [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] throw down in a five-round bout. The main card rounds out with [autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Karine Silva[/autotag], [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag], and [autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag].

The featured prelim is currently half-unknown with [autotag]Mauricio Ruffy[/autotag] in need of a replacement for the withdrawn [autotag]Charlie Campbell[/autotag].

Other notable prelims include [autotag]Nikita Krylov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Azamat Murzakanov[/autotag], [autotag]Jonathan Martinez[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marcus McGhee[/autotag], and [autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag].

Check out the full UFC 309 lineup below:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Champion Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
  • Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira – five-round bout
  • Viviane Aruajo vs. Karine Silva
  • Paul Craig vs. Bo Nickal
  • Eryk Anders vs. Chris Weidman

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Mauricio Ruffy vs. TBA
  • Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov
  • Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
  • Damon Jackson vs. Jim Miller

EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Lucas Almeida vs. David Onama
  • Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Mickey Gall
  • Oban Elliott vs. Bassil Hafez
  • Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Arman Tsarukyan: Michael Chandler is ‘No. 1 easy fight for Charles Oliveira’ at UFC 309

Arman Tsarukyan thinks the UFC lightweight division is trending toward a championship rematch between himself and Charles Oliveira in 2025.

ABU DHABI – [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag] thinks the UFC lightweight division is trending toward a championship rematch between himself and [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] in 2025.

Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) expects to claim the 155-pound belt from Islam Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) during their expected meeting in January or February of next year. Before that happens, though, Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) will have a rematch of his own with [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

There has been no love lost between Tsarukyan and Chandler in recent months. Tsarukyan was one of the harshest critics of Chandler waiting nearly two years for a Conor McGregor fight to materialize, and Chandler has clapped back on multiple occasions.

Chandler claims his fight against Oliveira is a title eliminator and the winner will get whoever emerges with the belt between Tsarukyan and Makhachev. There’s potential for a fun build for a Tsarukyan vs. Chandler fight, but the current top contender just doesn’t see it happening.

“Michael Chandler is going to lose for sure,” Tsarukyan told MMA Junkie. “He’s the No. 1 easy fight for Charles Oliveira. He’s going to choke him out or knock him out. He’s easy money for Oliveira, so I’m so happy for him.”

Tsarukyan said if both he and Oliveira get the job done, they would run it back. Their first meeting took place at UFC 300 in April with Tsarukyan taking a split decision. He thinks the UFC brass would have no problem running it back.

“After the fight Oliveira is going to be the next after me,” Tsarukyan said. “I’m going to fight with Islam and then after that fight he’s for sure going to fight for the title. He has a big name, he was the champion and UFC loves him.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Michael Chandler says UFC 309 rematch with Charles Oliveira could lead to lightweight title shot

Michael Chandler sees himself fighting for the UFC lightweight title should he beat Charles Oliveira at UFC 309.

LAS VEGAS – It hasn’t been made official by the UFC, but [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] is already calling his upcoming fight against [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] a No. 1 contender fight for the lightweight title.

Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) is confident a win in his rematch against Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC), which goes down in November at UFC 309, will get him a title shot at 155 pounds despite being 1-3 in his past four trips to the octagon.

“Here we are: Now I’m fighting Charles, No. 1 contender fight,” Oliveira told reporters at UFC 306. “I’ve always wanted to chase the title. That’s always been my goal. I beat Charles and if Conor can get his house in order, finally, then me and him can finish that. If not, I’ll go beat Islam (Makhachev).”

Chandler has been waiting for a fight against Conor McGregor to come to fruition for well over a year. He hasn’t fought since losing to Dustin Poirier in November 2022. To many’s surprise, the UFC recently announced Chandler was moving on from the McGregor bout and fighting Oliveira.

Both Chandler and Oliveira fought back in 2021 for the vacant UFC lightweight title. After a wild, back and forth affair, Oliveira stopped Chandler in the second round.

“Charles is that guy, man,” Chandler said. “I’ve got so much respect for him. I think he knows that, and I know he’s got respect for me. I want to compete against him. I’ve never been a guy that looks back and says, ‘I want that one back. I want to right that wrong,’ but when these rematches happen, I’m excited for them because I know the mistakes that I’ve made, I know where I was in my mind, and I’ve matured so much as a man and as a fighter since that fight in Houston, Texas.

“That’s part of it, too. Maybe this is the way it was supposed to be the entire time. Maybe I was supposed to lose to Charles to then have a redemption story to beat Charles and then get my title shot to finally become UFC champion and cement myself as the No. 1 guy in the world.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: UFC 306 gets new champs at Sphere, Chandler gives up on McGregor, Jones-Miocic, more

On this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses the results from UFC 306, the latest with Conor McGregor and much more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Farah Hannoun, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:

  • UFC 306 is in the books, and both headlining champions lost their titles. [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] lost dominant unanimous decisions to [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag], respectively. Beyond that, several fighters had breakthrough performances, including [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag], who badly battered former two-time UFC title challenger [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag]. We’ll unpack the UFC’s debut at Sphere and all the technical magic that came with it.
  • The main event for the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden in November was finally announced: a heavyweight title fight between [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] was made official by the promotion. Accompanying Jones-Miocic at UFC 309, a lightweight bout pitting [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] against [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] was also announced. We break down both matchups and discuss what’s at stake.
  • Finally, with Chandler fighting Oliveira, this leaves the question: What is going to happen with [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]? McGregor and Chandler were linked to fight for more than a year, and yet that fight never came to fruition, despite a failed booking and the two participating on last year’s season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” McGregor reacted to the news and said that he’s been ready, but feels he’s been kept “out of the loop.” What is going on? We discuss.

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UFC 309: Michael Chandler to rematch Charles Oliveira in return; may fight Conor McGregor later

Frustrated with waiting for Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler will now face former UFC champion Charles Oliveira for the second time.

[autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] has moved on from a long-awaited showdown against [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag].

At UFC 309, which takes place Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) will now rematch former lightweight champ [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] in a five-round bout. Chandler discussed the news in a YouTube video following a first report from Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports. MMA Junkie also confirmed the matchup with a source. The Chandler vs. McGregor matchup may still come later down the road.

Friday, UFC CEO Dana White told Barstool Sports Chandler was “done waiting” for McGregor, and wanted to book another fight. Chandler’s matchup is now known, and he’ll look to avenge a UFC 262 loss to Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC), who won the vacant lightweight title by second-round stoppage.

Chandler has waited nearly two years for a matchup against McGregor to come to fruition. After a submission loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 on Nov. 12, 2022, Chandler coached opposite McGregor on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series early in 2023. He was set to fight McGregor at UFC 303 in June, but the fight fell through when the Irishman broke his toe.

Since their first meeting, Oliveira defended his title against Poirier, and defeated Justin Gaethje, but lost his belt on the scale. He then lost by submission to Islam Makhachev in an attempt to claim the vacant title.

Oliviera then rebounded by stopping Beneil Dariush in the first round at UFC 289, but then dropped a split decision against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300, which was his most recent appearance.

The current UFC 309 lineup includes:

  • Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira
  • Eryk Anders vs. Chris Weidman
  • Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva
  • Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov
  • Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura
  • Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
  • Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Mickey Gall

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Dan Hooker says UFC wants Charles Oliveira next for him: ‘That’s a good fight, but there’s heaps of cool sh*t’

Dan Hooker claims the UFC likes Charles Oliveira for him next.

[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] claims the UFC likes [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] for him next.

Following his split decision win over Mateusz Gamrot on Saturday’s UFC 305 main card at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC) recounted how he ran into UFC executive Hunter Campbell.

Hooker says the name Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) was thrown at him.

“Yeah, they want Charles,” Hooker told The MacLife. “That’s a good fight, but there’s heaps of cool sh*t I could do. The lay of the land is pretty crazy. It’s such a wild sport, as well. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Hooker is open to Oliveira, or even Arman Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who’s touted as UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s next title challenger.

“I couldn’t care less, mate,” Hooker said. “(I’ll fight) all of them – even Arman. I said to Hunter, I said to Sean (Shelby), I’d like to fight Arman because screw it: We’ll go the toughest way to the title we possibly can. That’s (Jalin) Turner, Gamrot, Arman, Islam. I just don’t care. I would prefer the hardest road to the title that I possibly could. … I hate the prick. I told Hunter I’m going to smash his face in.”

After hearing Bruce Buffer call out his name as the victor, a hyped-up Hooker even mentioned Conor McGregor’s name during his post-fight speech. Hooker said he was just having some fun.

“I didn’t necessarily call him out, I just said that because I am an absolute troll, so it’s like the biggest troll move you could do of all time is to snake that fight off (Michael) Chandler,” Hooker said. “He waits all that time and then Conor just fights me anyway, like, that would be gold. I would feel like the biggest snake troll of all time.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.

Colby Covington sees ‘mentally weak’ Charles Oliveira as potential welterweight opponent

“The biggest and best fight for Charles Oliveira’s legacy would be Colby Covington.”

[autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] is still interested in welcoming former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] to welterweight.

Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) mentioned the possibility of moving up to 170 pounds after losing a split decision to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in April. That prompted Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) to call him out, and Oliveira said he’d be open to it.

Covington’s callout of Oliveira didn’t gather much steam, but he doubled down on his interest after dismissing Ian Machado Garry.

“It’s still a potential fight,” Covington told Submission Radio of Oliveira. “The UFC hasn’t shown much interest with it, but if you look at the landscape and what he said in his recent interview, that he wants to go up a weight to 170, he’s a big guy. He’s taller than me. He weighs more than me.

“The guy’s just a weight bully cutting to 155 because he wants to be stronger in there because he doesn’t have a mental edge. He’s mentally weak, so he needs to have a physical edge. He needs to be the bigger guy in the fight to feel confident going into a fight.”

Covington is coming off a title loss to welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC 296. He’s eyeing a big name for his next bout but doubts Oliveira fights him.

“He’s another one of those guys with baseless words,” Covington said. “Said all these things, ‘I want big legacy fights, I want to go up to 170.’ Well, here’s your chance, Charles Oliveira. I’m the biggest fight you can get. Former world champion, the king of Brazil, the king of Miami, Donald Trump’s favorite fighter. What’s going to be bigger for your legacy, Charles, than fighting me? You want the biggest fight? The ball is in your court, Charles.

“Let’s see if you’re a man of your word. You talked a big game and said you want to come up to 170. There’s nothing left for you at 155. All these other guys they’re trying to match you up with are complete nobodies. The biggest and best fight for Charles Oliveira’s legacy would be Colby Covington. So, let’s see if he’s about that life, but I don’t think he is. I think he’s going to run away because he knows what would happen.”

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Unfortunate circumstances: 15 unforeseen injuries that ended UFC main events

Injuries are part of the game in MMA, but there’s nothing worse than one ends a marquee UFC fight.

While the term “freak injury” might not be appropriate to use when discussing a sport that is inherently dangerous, 14 UFC main events have ended in unforeseen injuries – broken legs, separated shoulders, eye pokes, etc. – that don’t typically come in the sequence of MMA combat.

Scroll below to see a chronology of UFC main events that ended in that nature.

Note: Injuries sustained on a TKO due to strikes or tapout due to a submission are not included, nor are retirements on the stool due to extended fight damage or exhaustion. Laceration-based stoppages also are not included since they come as an intentional result of the opposition’s attack.

Charles Oliveira doesn’t see Dustin Poirier or Arman Tsarukyan dethroning UFC champ Islam Makhachev

Charles Oliveira picks Islam Makhachev to beat Dustin Poirier and Arman Tsarukyan.

[autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] picks [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] to beat [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] and [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag].

Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) defends his lightweight title against Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 302 (pay-per-view/ESPN2/ESPN+) headliner at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) fought both Makhachev and Poirier before. “Do Bronx” choked out Poirier to retain his lightweight title at UFC 269 and was dropped and submitted in his vacant title fight against Makhachev at UFC 280.

“Every striker that faces Islam is going to be the same thing: (Makhachev) will take you down and have bigger chances at winning,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “But we’re talking about MMA, and one hand, one strike that lands can definitely get you the victory.

“Dustin Poirier has shown that in his last fight, he’s shown that many times already. He has heavy hands and hits hard, so he definitely can knock him out, but I think Islam remains as champion.”

Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who defeated Oliveira by split decision at UFC 300 in April, was the original No. 1 contender before he declined the short-notice opportunity. Oliveira doesn’t think he has the skill set to beat Makhachev in a rematch.

“Arman is a guy that takes you down and holds you there the entire time,” Oliveira said. “No way. It’s not a fight he can win. Of course, I’ve just said this and I can’t backtrack, we’re talking about MMA, and it’s very unpredictable.

“A guy closes his eyes and throws a hand that lands, you’re knocked out. He throws a kick that lands, you shoot for a takedown and end up in a submission. MMA is unpredictable, but I think Islam is way more experienced, has more focus, more hunger, and is much stronger than Arman.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.

Mateusz Gamrot trashes Charles Oliveira for considering Colby Covington’s callout: ‘Thought you were better than that’

Mateusz Gamrot is irked by former UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira’s recent behavior.

[autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag] is irked by [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag]’s recent behavior.

Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC), a former UFC lightweight champion, is seemingly leaving his options open in the aftermath of his UFC 300 loss to Arman Tsarukyan this past month but hasn’t given much attention to the repeated callouts from Gamrot (24-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC).

Instead, Oliveira has offered to be the backup fighter for Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29, as well as tease a move up to welterweight to accept a challenge from Colby Covington.

What does not seem to be of much interest to Oliveira is showdown with Gamrot, who has won seven of his past eight fights against the likes of Tsarukyan, Rafael Fiziev and Rafael dos Anjos. And that is getting on the Polish fighter’s nerves (via X):

I asked to fight Oliveira, but he called out Colby instead. Guy who only fights once a year and is 2-3 since 2019.

We thought you were better than that, @CharlesDoBronxs. You know I’ll give you fire on the ground … but maybe that’s why you’d rather fight Colby…

Gamrot, No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie lightweight rankings, has been traversing the long road to the top of the division. His grappling-heavy style has likely cost him in the eyes of the fans and the UFC brass, but he’s not shy to take on the biggest challenges.

No. 3-ranked Oliveira has the most finishes and most submission victories in UFC history, and on paper would certainly be a stern test for Gamrot’s style.

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