"It has happened in the past with Poirier" - Charles Oliveira changes his mind about Conor McGregor fight

Charles Oliveira recently expressed his thoughts on a possible matchup with Conor McGregor.

However, Oliveira once claimed that, rather than competing against McGregor for what would have been his greatest paycheck to date, he would prefer to fight for the UFC lightweight title.

Oliveira won the 155-pound title in 2021 with his victory over Michael Chandler at UFC 262. In December of that same year, 'Do Bronx' returned to the octagon and defeated Dustin Poirier to successfully defend his championship.

McGregor had a difficult year in 2021, losing twice to Poirier and suffering a terrible leg break injury during their trilogy clash. Despite suffering a major injury, 'The Notorious' had taken aim at Oliveira on social media in 2021, and the pair went back and forth over a potential bout.

Oliveira was then interviewed by MMA Fighting and discussed his mindset for facing McGregor. The Brazilian stated that before becoming the lightweight champion, he would prefer a title bout over fighting the Dublin native.

“If I had the chance [in the past] to fight for the belt or fight Conor, everybody knows I’d fight for the belt." [H/t MMA Fighting]

However, in a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Oliveira changed his mind about facing McGregor and stated that he would gladly face the former UFC double champion.

"I would absolutely go with Conor because of the money. It happened in the past with Poirier and everybody criticized him.

Oliveira added:

You're putting way too much money in your bank account to live a good life, and then you're fighting for the title. It doesn't make any difference."

Check out Charles Oliveira's comments below:

Oliveira lost the vacant lightweight title to Islam Makhachev in 2022 but rebounded by knocking out Beneil Dariush in the first round at UFC 289.

Although McGregor's opponent and comeback date have not yet been officially announced, he is anticipated to take on Chandler.

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Charles Oliveira hits back at Arman Tsarukyan ahead of their fight at UFC 300

UFC 300 will take place on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pay-per-view main card features a number of high-stakes bouts, including Charles Oliveira's fight against rising contender Arman Tsarukyan.

Previously, Tsarukyan downplayed Oliveira's well-known grappling skills in an interview with Red Corner MMA.

In the aforementioned interview, Oliviera responds to Tsarukyan's critique, saying:

''People say what they want, right? “If I only have that, and I have 16 submissions on my [UFC] record, I guess they were all from the back, right? And I guess the knockouts I have weren’t knockouts, they were submissions. It’s too much bulls**t they talk.''

Check out Charles Oliveira's comments below (3:13):