Charles Oliveira of Brazil (L) punches Clay Guida (R) in the first round in their lightweight bout during the UFC 225: Whittaker v Romero 2 (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
UFC Lightweight star Charles Oliveira could not celebrate with the home fans after his UFC Brasilia win over Kevin Lee.
No fans were allowed in the arena as a precaution due to the coronavirus. However, the home-boy won the clash thanks to a guillotine choke.
Oliveira was asked about fighting in an empty arena post-match, and claimed this was a bit of a weird feeling:
“I came here to put on a show tonight. It was a shame there was no crowd.”
However, he was pleased with the result and hoped some new fans caught onto the UFC craze.
“I was happy that I was able to perform. I am happy that people at home were able to watch the fight and people who never watched UFC might have watched it tonight.”
He also joked about making history as this was possibly the first UFC fight not to feature any fans in the arena.
Although the coronavirus threatened to stop all UFC fights, Dana White wasn’t worried about this. The UFC president confirmed that all fights would go ahead as planned. However, venues could be shifted depending on situations.
Oliveira was also concerned about this fight getting cancelled but for other reasons:
“I was waiting for this fight for over a year. I was calling out Kevin Lee. But I had some injuries on my right shoulder coming into this fight.
“I came into the weight cut too heavy, I was concerned about that. But I worked hard and was really happy to get in and put on a show tonight.”
The Brazilian also put Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson on notice ahead of UFC 249.
The pair face off as Khabib defends the Lightweight title and Oliveira wants a shot at the winner.
It will be interesting to see how that fight goes, especially with the coronavirus pandemic playing havoc.
White also confirmed that new venues are being looked at for UFC 249, and Oliveira will be keeping an eye on that show.
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