Charles Oliveira suffered a nasty laceration that forced him out of the UFC 294 main event vs. Islam Makhachev, and there are pictures.
Shortly after UFC CEO Dana White confirmed Alexander Volkanovski stepped in, Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) shared a pair of images of the gash, as well as a brief apology video where he sported a bandage on his left brow.
“Sorry to everyone but you know everything,” Oliveira wrote in Portuguese.
I apologize pic.twitter.com/TYes4iNUn0
— Charles 'DoBronxs' Oliveira (@CharlesDoBronxs) October 11, 2023
White indicated the laceration took place Tuesday, on the eve of Oliveira’s flight to Yas Island, Abu Dhabi for his Oct. 21 title rematch. White indicated Oliveira’s team tried to fix the problem through their own connections rather than the UFC’s, which may have been a bad choice.
“They didn’t call us,” White said Tuesday at a DWCS 66 post-fight news conference. “We would’ve had him go to a plastic surgeon. They would’ve sewed it from the inside-out. You know, get that thing done the right way. These guys never call us like they should when something happens. They call us after they get it stitched up. But on the flip side, too, I could see him not wanting to risk it, getting a shot like this.”
Oliveira, 33, is 12-1 in his most recent 13 fights, with the lone loss against Makhachev at UFC 280 in October 2022. Oliveira is a former champion with wins over Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and Beneil Dariush among others.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.
