Charles Oliveira‘s coach, Diego Lima, revealed in a recent interview that Conor McGregor had tried to dissuade ‘Do Bronx’ from facing Islam Makhachev. The then-champion Oliveira faced Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 two years ago for his third title defense.

However, he lost the title meekly in the second round after an uninspired performance saw him being outclassed both on the feet and ground. As he sets up to face Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 next month, Oliveira’s coach claimed in a recent interview with ‘MMAFighting on SBN’ that the former two-division champion, before UFC 280, had sent ‘Do Bronx’ a video of him training and asked him to wait and fight him, instead.

Lima felt that despite the loss to the Dagestani, it had been the right decision to fight Makhachev since McGregor had been out for the past three years.

“It’s like McGregor. Before Makhachev, McGregor texted [Oliveira] telling him to wait, not to fight him. They exchanged direct messages. McGregor sent him a video training and running at the beach. If we had waited for him, how long would that have been? We’d be three years with no fight already,” he said. While Lima felt it was the right decision to engage in a battle with the Irishman then, he believed that the time had come for Oliveira to face the most popular MMA fighter in the world.

Oliveira’s coach wants him to fight Conor McGregor over a title shot

Diego Lima was all praises for McGregor, calling his accomplishments “gigantic” and felt that Charles Oliveira facing him would be an “incredible” fight. “McGregor has made history, what this guy has accomplished is gigantic…Look at the records he breaks, it’s incredible what he does. So, a fight with him would be incredible, of course, it would. Professionally speaking, it would be incredible,” Lima added.

It’s worth noting that Oliveira may choose McGregor over a title shot due to the financial windfall that fighting McGregor would bring.

The coach said that if Oliveira beat Arman Tsarukyan at their UFC 300 lightweight title eliminator, the Brazilian may even be willing to delay a title shot against Makhachev to fight the Irishman. “If we had the opportunity to fight McGregor at welterweight after this fight, we would fight McGregor. But how about the belt? Ok, we’ll fight for the belt after that, God willing,” the Brazilian said.

What do you think about Lima’s comments? Do let us know in the comments. 

Read More: Conor McGregor Return: Major Fallout With Dana White Looms Around as Coach Kavanagh Stunned by UFC Star Not Getting ‘More Opportunities’