Islam Makhachev will make his fourth lightweight title defense next week at UFC 311. But surprisingly, only one of the Dagestan’s three title defenses so far has been against fellow 155fers. The number would be higher if former champ Charles Oliveira had not pulled out of his much-awaited UFC 294 rematch against Makhachev in 2023.

Oliveira won the division crown three years ago and looked set for a title reign. However, after being stripped of the belt in his slated second defense against Justin Gaethje due to missing weight, the BJJ god-king got another opportunity to fight for the vacant belt against Makhachev at UFC 280. The Dagestani humiliated ‘Do Bronx’ and submitted the man with the most submission wins in UFC history.

The Brazilian looked a pale shadow of his former dominant self in the Makhachev fight, which had many excited for a rematch. But a gash on his eye during training compelled Oliveira to pull out of their UFC 294 rematch two weeks out from the fight. And Islam Makahchev is apparently not interested in fighting his former rival again, except if the fans want it.

“If like people want it [a rematch with Oliveira], if fan wants, why not? But I don’t see he changed something from the first fight. The second fight is going to be the same, you know. But if the fans want, I know he have big fans in Brazil and US, he’s like a big star in our sport. If they want, let’s go, let’s do it again,” the lightweight champ told ‘Shak MMA’ in a recent interview.

To be fair, fans would want to see that fight again, since Oliveira, who has the most finishes in UFC history, is far better than his UFC 280 showing. Not to mention, the Brazilian is probably the only person who has a claim to a title shot in the entire top ten of the lightweight division.

Unless Makhachev fights a fighter in another division after Tsarukyan (which is a possibility), he may have no choice but to fight Oliveira next. If that is, Makhachev can get through Arman Tsarukyan, who got his shot by slaying the Brazilian in their UFC 300 outing.

Islam Makhachev looks to get past Arman Tsarukyan

Arman Tsarukyan can be a stylistic nightmare for Makhachev. After all, the Armenian contender is a world-class wrestler like Makhachev and has significant, one-punch-knockout power in his fists. Not to mention the #1 ranked lightweight is younger, hungrier, and desperate to win the title.

This is why the Dagestani is focused on Tsarukyan at the moment. “But I don’t want to look after Arman because I have a real contender right now. I have to focus on him,” Makahcehv told the interviewer amid the Oliveira rematch talks. Moreover, Makhachev expressed his intentions to move up and fight for the welterweight title in the same conversation.

But Dana White famously doesn’t like his fighters thinking about a double-champ fight until they have cleared out their own divisions. Even though there isn’t much in Makhachev’s division to clear out, the rematch against Oliveira is long overdue. That is why the Dagestani champ will probably have to fight and defeat ‘Do Bronx’ after UFC 311 before he thinks of moving up. What do you think about Islam Makhachev’s thoughts on a Charles Oliveira rematch?