Charles Oliveira is looking much further than just his BMF title defense against Diego Lopes in the UFC 335 main event. For the Brazilian, his ultimate aim remains securing another shot at lightweight gold. In that regard, ‘Do Bronxs’ recently shared his views on what could happen to him if current champion Justin Gaethje retires. 

In a recent interview with Laerte Viana, Oliveira weighed in on the current lightweight title picture and stated that he would fight Arman Tsarukyan if Justin Gaethje decides to say goodbye to the sport. 

“So, a victory over Diego Lopes would certainly qualify me for a title fight,” Oliveira said. “The thing is, we have several scenarios. Does Justin Gaethje retire or fight? If Justin Gaethje retires… for sure it’s Charles Oliveira fights for the title against Arman Tsarukyan. Number 2, there’s nowhere to run.” 

“If I win this fight, like it or not, they fought a little while ago. I will be fighting further ahead, and like it or not, my fight is more visible for those who want to start of the year. My fight will be fresher in people’s minds when they are looking to fight someone at the beginning of the year. So, there are several factors, right?” 

Oliveira’s belief that he could end up fighting Arman Tsarukyan stems from Justin Gaethje’s own admission that he could potentially retire from the sport.

‘The Highlight’ confessed on Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant podcast that he’s currently dealing with injuries from the Ilia Topuria fight in June and is at a point where he doesn’t need to invite more damage by fighting. Gaethje’s remarks reflected that he’s thinking about retirement from MMA.

If Gaethje somehow ends up making that ultimate decision, Oliveira would plan to first beat Diego Lopes at UFC 335 and then fight Arman Tsarukyan—who is next in the title picture after beating Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331—for the vacant belt.

In fact, Oliveira similarly told MMA Fighting that Gaethje needs to make a decision about his retirement because it affects his title ambitions.

However, despite Gaethje initially floating the thought of retiring from the sport, it was never a final decision. The 37-year-old clearly indicated that he’ll return in 2027 and defend his belt against Arman Tsarukyan. So, it’s clear that the Arizona native doesn’t plan to end his UFC journey soon.

But that makes Oliveira’s situation a little complicated. Justin Gaethje not retiring would most likely cement his next fight against Tsarukyan. So, the Brazilian might have to either wait or take a fight to strengthen his case even more.

Even so, Charles Oliveira didn’t shy away from saying he’s more reliable than the Armenian. 

Charles Oliveira feels he sells more than Arman Tsarukyan  

It’s not hard to admit that Arman Tsarukyan has emerged as one of the biggest draws in the lightweight division. The Armenian has catapulted himself from drawing Dana White’s ire to standing close to a title shot. However, Charles Oliveira feels he has a point to make about Tsarukyan potentially fighting for the title.

The Brazilian admitted that Tsarukyan deserved a title shot a long time ago. However, Oliveira argued that the Armenian’s history of unreliability creates a problem. Plus, ‘Do Bronx’ also feels he sells fights better than Tsarukyan.

“He landed a heavy knockout,” Oliveira said during an interview with Laerte Viana. “I, Charles… think he should have fought (for the title) a long time ago if he hadn’t done those things. He ended up doing that, which complicated things a bit for the UFC, right? I told the guys there, and I’m saying it to the world.

“To me, he’s one of the guys who should have already fought for the title. But those things they do get in the way. However, Charles Oliveira sells a lot, and the public knows that.”

Here, Oliveira took a sly jab at Tsarukyan for pulling out of his Islam Makhachev fight at UFC 311 because of a last-minute back issue, which prompted the UFC to replace him with Renato Moicano.

UFC CEO Dana White held a grudge against Tsarukyan until he recently admitted that the 30-year-old had finally redeemed himself with his knockout over Ruffy last month.

Still, Oliveira feels that his greater reliability compared to Tsarukyan also favors his chances of getting a title shot. That said, the former lightweight champion is desperately campaigning for another 155-pound title opportunity. Would the UFC consider him? We’ll have to wait and see.