The UFC 280 featuring the lightweight championship fight between Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Charles Oliveira and Russian mixed martial artist Islam Makhachev is scheduled to take place on October 22, which left the fans and experts divided between the two fighters.
Recently, former UFC fighter and currently mixed martial arts analyst Chael Sonnen has commented on the two fighters and specifically on Charles Oliveira's strategy to face the Russian fighter, who is on a 10-match winning streak.
Oliveira, who is on a 11-match winning streak, was ripped off his lightweight title for missing weight ahead of his last fight against Justin Gaethje and since then the belt has been vacant.
Watch Chael Sonnen talking about Oliveira on his YouTube channel:
In his recent episode of Beyond the Fight, Chael Sonnen said, " When I hear that Charles is comfortable on the ground, let me just stop you right there. Because nobody is. Nobody wants to be underneath."
Sonnen, who is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt himself, called Oliveira's strategy against Islam 'a terrible idea'. He said, "I'm truly interested in Oliveira's strategy when he gets down... If he is practicing being on bottom and he's trying to find a kimura or a triangle, he's not going to win this fight... I know Charles himself said, 'I'll start this fight on my back.' That would be a really bad idea. It would be a terrible idea to ever concede that position. Because every second that you are there, you're losing."
Earlier, UFC superstar Conor McGregor has picked Charles Oliveira over Khabib Nurmagomedov's apprentice Islam Makhachev for the lightweight championship at UFC 280. While many consider McGregor's pick is based on his previous losing encounter with the undefeated Russian fighter.
Other co-main event at the UFC 280 features bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling taking on former titleholder TJ Dillashaw at the Etihad Arena. The initial schedule for the bantamweight title bout on September 10 was postponed to October 22 due to some changes as Sterling will look for his second title defense against Dillashaw.