UFC commentator Jon Anik has seen countless champions come and go. Ahead of lightweight champ Charles Oliveira’s second title defense this weekend, Anik discussed how Charles Oliveira is underappreciated in the sport, and why the comparisons to former champ Khabib Nurmagomedov aren’t worth making.
“It’s as good as it gets. Charles is so under appreciated given the body of work and the greatness. For the first time this week, people are starting to invoke the name Khabib Nurmagomedov in trying to somehow compare these legacies and I’m not sure you can do it.
Jon Anik on Charles Oliveira’s “Championship Aura”
Khabib was 13-0 in the UFC, Oliveira is already at 20 UFC wins, he’s riding this unbelievable double-digit winning streak, and if he wins this weekend, he will have those names Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje on the resumé that Khabib had to close out his career.
Certainly, you can’t take away the 29-0 of Khabib Nurmagomedov, but he didn’t have that longevity in the UFC that Charles Oliveira can lay claim to, and stylistically, he’s never been in a boring fight — even when people have questioned certain versions of Charles Oliveira.”
Charles Oliveira was long considered a talented young fighter with a penchant for finishes, but without the spiritual fortitude needed to be a champion. Certainly, his opponent this weekend, Justin Gaethje, has made that claim repeatedly, calling Oliveira a “coward” in the press.
“I would say that when he made his UFC debut when he was 20 years old and he filled out his UFC fighter bio, and the column was there for strengths, all he listed was ‘heart.’
I do believe that he has always had heart and that [this narrative] is entirely overblown. He got a bad rap from the Max Holloway main event that ended quickly due to injury, and there are other times where, maybe, he lived to fight another day and some people classify that as quitting.
I love Charles Oliveira. I love his mental state, I think he has a championship aura not unlike Alexander Volkanovski — I don’t want to say an aura of invincibility, per se — but here’s the deal: if you want to bet on the main event, power to you. If you want to have action, I get it.
If you see value on Justin Gaethje [as a betting underdog], have at it. But to me, as someone who bets on sports every day, can’t you find something better in the book than to bet against Charles Oliveira right now? I mean, look at him, I think most of us would agree he has more ways to win — not to short change Justin Gaethje — but Charles Oliveira is on fire right now, and I would fade him at your own peril, I really would.”
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