by Dane McGuire

Despite being stripped of the UFC lightweight title for missing weight by a half-pound, former champion and current number one contender Charles Olivera was on cloud nine after UFC 274.

 

Olivera, who was forced to vacate the title at the start of the main event against Justin Gaethje, submitted his opponent by rear naked choke in the middle of the first round.

 

‘Do Bronx’ has said he made weight ahead of the bout and the miss was due to an issue with the scale, which UFC President Dana White has addressed and the overseeing commission has disagreed with.

 

“Any scales used for any purpose other than official weigh-ins (such as those that may be used for fighters to unofficially test their weight) are not calibrated or inspected by commission staff as they are typically provided by the promoter,” the commission said in a statement before the fight.

 

“You didn’t make weight,” White told Oliveira on the pay-per-view broadcast immediately after his victory. “I know. You didn’t make weight. You’re the No. 1 contender.”

 

Olivera is now 33-8 MMA, 21-8 UFC. As of yet, the next man to stand across from him for the championship is unknown. He addressed the matter at the UFC 274 post-fight press conference.

 

“I went into the octagon to defend the title. I don’t have to get it back. The champion is Charles Oliveira, and we all know that,” Olivera said.

 

“I said upstairs that Conor McGregor would be a good fight,” Oliveira added. “When I was No. 7 in the rankings, I called these guys out and none of them paid attention to me. So let the matchmakers choose. The name is Charles Oliveira, and that won’t change.”

 

“This is a message to the division: I know who I am, and I know where I came from. You knocked me down, but I’ll keep going,” he added.

 

“I knew that I was going to get hit. I knew I was going to hit him. I was ready for a war, and it was all about who wanted it more. I was enlightened. And again, the name of the champion is Charles Oliveira.”

 

“It’s a nightmare. I mean, it’s a nightmare,” White said at thepost-fight press conference.

 

“We have this issue where guys come out, and they’ll start checking the (UFC’s) scale the night before. All the Europeans and guys from other parts of the world do kilos, so they all start f*cking with the scale to look at kilos. And who knows?”

 

CageNation will follow this story for an official bout announcement.