There’s a bit of beef brewing amongst top-ranked Brazilian Lightweights.
Less than two weeks ago at UFC 326, Charles Oliveira dominantly captured the BMF belt from former rival Max Holloway, utilizing his takedowns and jiu-jitsu prowess to overpower the former Featherweight king. There were a few moans that Oliveira didn’t live up to the BMF ethic of mindlessly throwing down, but ultimately, “Do Bronxs” is in the win column and back in title contention.
Lightweight contender Mauricio Ruffy had a bit of critique for Oliveira. Though he didn’t knock the performance itself necessarily, Ruffy did argue that Oliveira’s control-based win could cost him future opportunities. Notably, Oliveira has wanted to fight Conor McGregor for a long time, and it would be bad business to see the Irish superstar controlled on the canvas.
“Charles did what nobody expected, which was to stick to him from start to finish,” Ruffy told Laerte Viana. “If you go in just to grab someone in the UFC business, you end up losing opportunities. Charles had an incredible fight, but surely the UFC won’t want to see him grabbing and holding [Conor McGregor], and Conor won’t put himself in that position either.”
Ruffy also believes that Holloway “almost knocked out” Oliveira with a punch in the final exchange (which definitely hit the shoulder if you watch the slow-motion replay). In addition, he explained that he wanted to track down Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and avenge Oliveira’s loss to him for the sake of Brazil and Oliveira fans.
By MMA standards, this is rather mild criticism and hardly worth mentioning. However, it was still enough to draw the ire of Charles Oliveira’s wife, Vitoria Brum, who fired back on Instagram in defense of her man by telling off the young knockout artist.
“Then let’s schedule a boxing match,” Brum wrote in an Instagram comment (via Champ Rds).“Because if you want a fight, this is MMA — there will be jiu-jitsu! Ruffy, don’t come trying to surf on my husband’s wave, because he has more submissions than you have fights.”
Could Ruffy vs. Oliveira happen somewhere down the road? It’s always possible. For now, however, they remain in separate sections of the Lightweight ranks, although Ruffy could take another step up the ladder if he takes out Michael Chandler at the UFC White House event in June … assuming that fight actually happens.
