Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov considers Brazilian Charles Oliveira a worthy successor. However, he does not consider that he will hold the crown for long.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement caused the UFC lightweight belt to become vacant. Dustin Poirier was expected to be involved in the fight to crown a new champion. Surprisingly, ‘The Diamond’ preferred to pursue a million-dollar trilogy with Conor McGregor and stepped aside from contention for the belt. This paved the way for Michael Chandler who was Charles Oliveira’s opponent at UFC 262.
Khabib asks Charles Oliveira not to take offense or misinterpret his words
Khabib expressed his satisfaction to see Oliveira crowned champion. Although in his opinion, the Brazilian will not manage to hold the title for long.
“It looks to me like he has eight wins in a row. Many by early finish. As I recall, only against Tony Ferguson did he have a complete fight. I think Oliveira is a very worthy champion. A lot of finishes, a lot of UFC records. It would have been a shame if Michael Chandler had won – two fights in UFC and already champion? Somehow that would have been wrong. And Charles Oliveira has come a long way. He’s a worthy champion. I’m happy for him.”
Nurmagomedov has expressed several times that he sees his teammate Islam Makhachev as the future of the division. But he further states that by the time Islam gets to challenge for the title, it will no longer be against Oliveira.
“But when Islam Makhachev moves up in the rankings, Oliveira is no longer going to be the champion. The main issue is that Oliveira should understand my words correctly. I respect him, he is a worthy champion. But when Islam moves up, there will already be another champion in less than a year. In my eyes it will be Dustin Poirier.”
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