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Islam Makhachev was originally scheduled to face Charles Oliveira at UFC 294. The pair's bout would have been a rematch of their UFC 280 encounter last year, which saw Makhachev dethroned Oliveira as the UFC lightweight champion. Since then, 'do Bronx' has been on a vengeful quest to reclaim his title.
However, the Brazilian action fighter was forced to withdraw from his bout with Makhachev after sustaining a deep cut in the last round of his final sparring session ahead of their matchup. He was thereafter replaced by Alexander Volkanovski. However, Belal Muhammad contests Charles Oliveira's reasons.
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According to the streaking UFC welterweight, Charles Oliveira never intended to face Islam Makhachev in the first place. While he acknowledges the interference caused by the Brazilian's cut, he believes it could have been stitched up and surgically repaired in time for him to fight at UFC 294.
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He even brings up former lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis, as an example, given that 'Showtime' once suffered a cut days before a fight with Dustin Poirier, but still stepped into the octagon. For this reaosn, Belal Muhammad believes Charles Oliveira was never going to fight Islam Makhachev.
Muhammad's take received widespread condemnation from the MMA community on X/Twitter for his remarks, with one fan stating that it is ironic that Muhammad wonders why he has few fans:
"And he wonder why everyone hates him…"
Another fan stated that a fighter of Belal Muhammad's caliber is in no position to make such accusations against a former champion:
"Why is this random pre-lim fighter hating on a champ?"
One fan even likened him to Dillon Danis, who is known for making improbable claims on social media:
"He literally sounds like Dillon Danis"
Meanwhile, another fan described this as being Muhammad's lowest point:
"Belal hit a new low."
A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:
Charles Oliveira's thoughts on facing Islam Makhachev in Abu Dhabi
Before withdrawing from the bout, Charles Oliveira was critical of the UFC's decision to book his rematch with Islam Makhachev in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. Their previous bout at UFC 280 also took place in Abu Dhabi, which 'do Bronx' was also critical of, given that he was the champion at the time.
However, some fans disagreed with his sentiments about the pair's rematch, given that this time Makhachev was the reigning champion, while Oliveira was the challenger.
