Current UFC light heavyweight Mikhail Tsirkunov believes that Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira have an equal chance of winning the title match.
Oliveira (33-8) and Makhachev (22-1) will meet at the Abu Dhabi tournament and challenge for the vacant lightweight champion belt (up to 70.3kg). Previously, the champion was a fighter from Brazil, but lost the title after failing the weigh-in at the May 7 tournament.
– On a scale, they put the fact that Oliveira has eight defeats. On the other, Makhachev had no top-5 opponents. What do you think is most important as a professional fighter?
– From different facts you can blind a lot, but in fact this is just their career, and so it turned out. It’s like different people have their own fingerprints. Yes, they were in the same sport, but one suffered eight losses, went through it, figured out what it was, and moved on. And the other had no defeats, he did everything more correctly, more clearly, and it turned out like that. But that doesn’t mean anything. It’s a meat grinder, a fight, anything can happen here. What happened before is not important. 8 losses is not important, it just means he has no problem losing.
– How do you imagine the development of this fight?
“It’s very difficult to say, I can’t even define it myself. It’s impossible to say for sure that Oliveira will become a passer for Makhachev. My opinion is that it’s 50/50, – said Tsirkunov in a conversation with a correspondent.
The next fight Cirkunov will hold at the show on October 15 against Alonso Menfield. Makhachev and Oliveira will meet on the 22nd at UFC 280.
Source : MatchTV
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