UFC 274: Charles Oliveira Says He’s No Longer Just a Jiu-Jitsu Fighter

Phoenix, AZ — Some fighters feel that you’re not truly the champion until you’ve defended your title, but that was not the case for Charles Oliveira.

Oliveira (32-8, 1NC) returns atop UFC 274, where he’ll put his lightweight belt on the line against Justin Gaethje. “Do Borox” has already defended the strap once, against Dustin Poirier. But he didn’t feel any more of a champion for doing so.

“I was champion, I earned the belt. I came from nine straight wins. So defending the belt is just what I’m building my legacy on,” Oliveira told media outlets including Cageside Press during Wednesday’s UFC 274 media day. “I didn’t come here just to win the belt.”

Put more plainly, “I felt like I was champion from the moment I earned the belt,” Oliveira said.

Now, it’s on to Gaethje, who Oliveira says he has plenty of respect for. “He’s a hard-working guy, he’s a real fighter, he fought great names, he’s been here a while— but the champion’s called Charles Oliveira, and I’m the champion.”

And while some may call Gaethje the most violent, dangerous guy in the division, Oliveira pointed to a shared opponent on Wednesday to counter that: Michael Chandler.

“Guys, you see when I fight. He fought a guy [Chandler] for three rounds, I knocked him out with my left hand,” exclaimed Oliveira. “So whatever the hype is, whatever the talk is, I don’t listen.”

He doesn’t listen to the trash talk either. So any of the talk from Gaethje, about Oliveira quitting or anything else, is apparently falling on deaf ears.

“To each their own. A lot of people approach the fight differently. People talk, people don’t like to talk. if I liked to talk, I would bring a parrot up here instead of myself. So I don’t like to talk, I let my fight talk for me. He can say whatever he wants, it does not bother me. I’m only worried about what I’m going to do the day of the fight.”

One thing the champ is expecting is a collision this Saturday, given both he and Gaethje like to move forward, Oliveira said.

“Listen, he’s a truck, he only moves forward, and I only move forward. So there’s definitely going to be a collision, there’s definitely going to be a clash. I’m not a jiu-jitsu fighter any more, I’m a complete MMA fighter. I want everybody to know, it seems like guys are not getting the picture. We’re definitely going to collide, and I’m the champion.”

Charles Oliveira defends his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 on Saturday, May 7, 2022 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Check out Oliveira’s full media day scrum above. More coverage can be found below.