Renato Moicano thinks Charles Oliveira made a critical error in career management by accepting the UFC Fight Night 261 main event with Rafael Fiziev.
Just 105 days after being knocked out by Ilia Topuria in a vacant lightweight title bout at UFC 317, Oliveira (35-11 MMA, 23-11 UFC) will get back in the octagon against Fiziev (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in the Oct. 11 headliner in Rio de Janeiro (ESPN+).
Although Oliveira said he specifically asked to compete on the card because of his desire to compete on home soil in Brazil, there is legitimate risk involved in coming back to soon after being put out cold.
Moicano, a UFC lightweight contender and fellow Brazilian to Oliveira, said he understands the UFC needed a high-profile name to headline, but he just wishes it didn’t play out this way.
“The UFC just surprised everyone again,” Moicano said in Portuguese on his YouTube channel. “Who expected that Charles Oliveira would come back so quickly, and against a knockout artist in Rio de Janeiro? I personally think this fight makes no sense for Charles. It makes perfect sense for Rafael Fiziev.
“UFC just saved UFC Rio. UFC Rio was having a problem figuring out who was going to be the main event. It was talked a lot about Jailton Almeida, but then they put him against (Alexander) Volkov somewhere else.”
Even if Oliveira wasn’t fresh off the knockout to Topuria, this matchup with Fiziev is general is one that Moicano has concerns around. He thinks Fiziev is dangerous and will be hungry to get a signature win on his resume, while the motivations of Oliveira due to the unclear upside of a win, are certainly not as easy to pinpoint.
“In my opinion, this is the worst fight in the rankings for Charles Oliveira,” Moicano said. “It’s a fight that doesn’t add anything for Charles. Great, you beat Rafael Fiziev. What changes then? What does this change in the ranking. I don’t think it changes anything. If Fiziev beats him, which I think is most likely, unfortunately. … Why did he accept this fight? Why did his team accept this fight?”
With three wins and three losses in his past six fights, the 35-year-old Oliveira is arguably at something of a crossroads. “Do Bronx” has not lost consecutive fights in more than nine years, and if he finds himself there after UFC Fight Night 261, Moicano said we’ll be left wondering if the quick turnaround, for this particular matchup, was worth it.
“You saved UFC Rio,” Moicano said. “But at the price of destroying Charles Oliveira’s career.”
