A highly anticipated lightweight championship rematch between Islam Makhachev, the reigning champion, and Charles Oliveira, the former champion and current top-ranked challenger, is currently being planned as the main event for UFC 297 on January 20 in Toronto, Canada.
Islam Makhachev, who currently holds the undisputed lightweight title, was originally set to headline UFC 294 just a month ago in Abu Dhabi, UAE, against his rival Charles Oliveira. However, the fight had to be canceled due to a severe cut suffered by Oliveira above his right eye.
In place of Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski stepped up to face Makhachev in a title rematch. Unfortunately for Volkanovski, he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Makhachev, who landed a high kick and followed it up with strikes.
The current plan – though not finalized just yet – is to have Islam Makhachev x Charles Oliveira 2 – headline UFC 297. That event, while not officially announced yet, is currently slated to Jan. 20 in Toronto.
The original plan for that main was Volkanovski x Topuria, but now…
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 4, 2023
The fight being in Canada can affect Oliveira’s mindset due to his rather concerning record in that part of the world. Charles has experienced defeats in 4 out of his 10 MMA losses while competing in Canada. For Brazilian fans who believe in MMA superstitions, this trend is concerning, especially considering that Islam Makhachev is the favored fighter in this upcoming title fight.
As a result, the outlook appears unfavorable for Oliveira and his supporters. However, a positive sign for the former champion is that he ended his winless streak in Canada by delivering an impressive first-round TKO victory via ground strikes over the perennial contender, Beneil Dariush.
The women’s bantamweight championship is also up for grabs with former title contender Raquel Pennington scheduled to face Mayra Bueno Silva for the currently vacant title. UFC 297 was a card that fans initially complained about as it looked really underwhelming. However, now that there are two title fights on the line in the card, the MMA enthusiasts in Canada will be pretty satisfied.
Fans react to Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira being planned for UFC 297
The initial encounter between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira occurred at UFC 280 in October 2022, during which Makhachev secured a submission victory over “Do Bronx” to capture the vacant UFC lightweight championship.
A rematch was planned between the two top lightweight contenders, but it could materialize. However, now that the duo is set to run it back in January next year, fans are nothing but excited. “Islam hasn’t fought a lightweight for more than a year,” wrote a concerned fan. This is correct in a way, as Islam’s last two fights were against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. However, fans must note that the fights were held at 155 pounds.
We already owned Olivera . Stop making Islam rematch people. Nobody wanna see this
Let Islam rest until next year October , then give him Gaethje. You have to respect the champion
— Doctor MMA 🇵🇸 (@FightDoctor_) November 4, 2023
Makhachev is pretty active compared to khabib
— holy land groyper🇵🇸 (@Holylandgroyper) November 4, 2023
One fan was not too excited about this match-up, as they wrote, “We already owned Olivera. Stop making Islam rematch people. Nobody want to see this.” According to a fan, Makhachev has been more active in the UFC than the former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov: “Makhachev is pretty active compared to Khabib.”
Fake news @MAKHACHEVMMA fighting Charles Oliveira in January
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) November 5, 2023
However, the whole story has taken a 180-degree turn as Islam’s manager Ali Abdelaziz recently tweeted that Makhachev would not be fighting Oliveira in January and the news is completely fake. But fans suspect that this is just retaliation from Ali as the news was first reported by Ariel Helwani. Fans know that the two certainly do share good terms.
Stay tuned for more updates on the same!