MMA
Former UFC champion reveals how Charles Oliveira can make people forget loss to Ilia Topuria
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Charles Oliveira returns to the octagon this weekend for the first time since his humbling loss to Ilia Topuria in June, and he may have more than ome reason to hope for success.
Oliveira and Topuria faced off at UFC 317 for the vacant lightweight title, with the latter winning by first-round knockout.
That was Oliveira's third loss in his last five fights, but the defeat did not deter the Brazilian, who will take on Mateusz Gamrot on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro as he looks to regain the title he held in 2021 and 2022.
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Another former UFC champion, Tyron Woodley, believes Oliveira needs to return to action in order to erase the memory of his loss to Topuria — both from the fans' minds and his own.
A victory on the weekend would go a long way towards that, he said.
“I don’t know why Oliveira's so quick to fight again, he's been a champion, he's shown what he can show," Woodley told Fruity King. "I think it's more of a pride and ego situation after getting dominated like that.
“Our sport has a short-term memory, people will forget about his loss to Topuria if he goes out here and smashes somebody.
“So maybe that's the confidence, and maybe that's the motivation he needs, that if he goes out there and just goes and wins, then this will make people forget about what happened to him in this last fight.
“So, with that said, I would lean more towards Charles against Mateausz Gamrot.”
