Charles Oliveira believes he will earn a shot at the UFC lightweight belt with a win over Diego Lopes, defending the BMF title in the main event of UFC 335 on Dec. 12, regardless if Justin Gaethje is standing across the cage as champion or not.
Gaethje stopped Ilia Topuria in June to unify the 155-pound titles on the White House lawn and has since stated he would not fight again before the end of the year. On top of that, Gaethje has also opened the door to potentially retiring from the sport as UFC champion.
If money is the deciding factor, Oliveira believes Gaethje may not fight again.
“I think that, without a doubt, he is not going to make more money in his next fight than he made at the White House,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “The White House was a place everyone wanted to fight at, everyone wanted to be there. It had all that glamour, so he accepted the money for that fight. In other words, his next purse is not going to be that amount. It will definitely be a good amount, but not the amount he made at the White House. The White House was something everyone would have wanted to fight at, and certainly, those who were making 100 before were making 500 to fight at that card.”
Asked what he would do if he were in Gaethje’s shoes, “do Bronx” said he understands if the UFC champion decides to walk away from the sport after 33 professional fights.
“I also understand his side of saying, ‘Man, I’ve already had great fights, I’ve built a great history, and wanting to retire,’” Oliveira said. “But it’s not me or you or someone else to say. It’s him with himself, right? It’s up to him to understand what the next step is, whether now is the time to stop and retire. To sit down and reflect.
“As far as I’m concerned, I respect him tremendously. He’s a guy who has made great history and had great fights, so if he retires, he will receive a standing ovation. If he keeps fighting, he will certainly receive a standing ovation for the history he has made.”
With Gaethje sitting at the top of the division or not, Oliveira believes he would leapfrog Arman Tsarukyan and become the No. 1 contender by beating Lopes despite the fact Tsarukyan holds a split-decision win over him from 2024. The Armenian lightweight recently beat Mauricio Ruffy via first-round knockout to make his case for a title shot, but Oliveira sees his star power — and the fact he has submitted Gaethje in 2022 — as key.
“I think Arman is there to fight for the title,” Oliveira said. “However, if we’re going to talk about name value, what do I think? I think I sell a lot more than Arman. So I could move ahead of Arman. There’s this thing with Gaethje, that he could retire. If he retires, there’s no other path to take. After this fight, it would definitely be me and Arman fighting for the title. So, in reality, without a shadow of a doubt, we’re waiting on a guy who needs to decide his next step.
“A fight between Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes will certainly be explosive,” he continued. “If I win this fight, I would definitely be next in line, regardless of whether Gaethje comes back or not, because that would be a very big fight that sells really well. I think Justin Gaethje needs to see what the path is, whether he’s going to fight or not, whether he’s going to retire, so we can understand what the next step is.”