Charles Oliveira shares eye-opening prediction for Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan title fight at UFC 311: "You can look at their first fight"

Islam Makhachev has been chosen as the preemptive winner of the upcoming UFC 311 lightweight title fight, and it was none other than Charles Oliveira who previewed him as the victor. 'Do Bronx' took part in a recent interview wherein he selected Makhachev.

The Brazilian, after all, has experience fighting against both Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan, the latter of whom he faced at UFC 300, losing via split-decision. Moreover, Oliveira believes that the first encounter between Makhachev and Tsarukyan was telling enough to predict a rematch.

"It's not even that I'm 50-50, you know? I just think that they're both really great, amazing fighters and, you know, my point is that Islam has improved a lot in the standup. You know, you can look at their first fight and there's a lot of grappling, but I feel like Islam has improved a lot in the standup so I feel like that can make a difference."

Check out Charles Oliveira's prediction for Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2:

Oliveira's take is sensible. Makhachev did defeat Tsarukyan in their fiirst encounter. Furthermore, the Dagestani star also defeated Oliveira more decisively than Tsarukyan did, outwrestling him and subsequently knocking him down en route to a dominant second-round submission win at UFC 280.

Meanwhile, Tsarukyan struggled to impose himself against Oliveira, even falling victim to a submission that could have ended the fight. In the end, though, he won via split-decision. The verdict, though, has been contested by some, who feel that Oliveira had done enough to be named the victor.

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Islam Makhachev's first fight with Arman Tsarukyan was more competitive than Charles Oliveira let on

While Charles Oliveira believes that Islam Makhachev's first fight with Arman Tsarukyan is a potential indicator of how the second fight could go, there are several factors he failed to consider. First, it was Tsarukyan's UFC debut, and he was just 22 years old at the time.

Check out Islam Makhache vs. Arman Tsarukyan highlights:

Second, Tsarukyan was stepping in on short-notice, so he had suboptimal preparation time. In fact, his bout with Makhachev was extremely competitive up until Tsarukyan tired, which may have been due to him stepping in on-shortice.