Michael Bisping thinks Charles Oliveira made the right decision to pull out of UFC 294.
Oliveira was forced out of his title-fight rematch against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) next Saturday, Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi due to a cut. Makhachev will now defend his belt against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Bisping understands why Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) opted to withdraw, saying that the risk of competing with nasty gash on his eyebrow could have cost him in the fight.
“If it is a bad cut two, three weeks away, two and a half weeks, yeah listen, you can’t compete like that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “You can compete with injuries, but a huge cut on the eye, I mean, that’s going to be bad. It’s going to open up straight away and that’s going to be it. Or maybe he even gets out there and the UFC pull him from the fight straight away.”
Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) will step in on less than two weeks’ notice for his title-fight rematch. “The Great” was eager to run things back with Makhachev after pushing him to the brink in their first fight at UFC 284, and will now get that opportunity.
Bisping thinks the lack of time to prepare makes it a tall order for Volkanovski. Makhachev thinks Volkanovski has nothing to lose, but Bisping disagrees.
“The danger here for Volkanovski is that if he does lose, and one has got to imagine, let’s be honest, that Islam’s going to be a huge favorite,” Bisping said. “Not only has he beaten him once, not only is he the bigger guy, but this is on two and a half weeks’ notice.
“Regardless of how professional Volkanovski is – because he is. He’s always training. The man’s an athlete. He takes his job very, very seriously. Still, two and a half weeks, that’s not ideal. But the real risk is that if he loses to Islam twice in a row, then he ain’t going to get another shot. That’s the real risk here. That is what’s at stake.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.
