Oliveira wants Gaethje for UFC title clash

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Charles Oliveira has always hunted down the big dogs in the UFC, and he wants to leash one more superstar in his quest to return to the promotion’s pedestal.

On June 25, 2026, Oliveira called out Justin Gaethje, the newly crowned UFC lightweight champion, and said he wants to put his BMF belt on the line in a 155-pound title fight.

“I made it very clear that I was waiting for the White House event to be over so we could figure out what the next step was. Now we know,” Oliveira said.

Both fighters already met inside the octagon on May 7, 2022, with Oliveira shocking the Footprint Center in Phoenix by submitting Gaethje via rear-naked choke at the 3:22 mark of the first round.

Although Oliveira missed weight a day before the main event, the Brazilian mixed martial artist still delivered a performance for the ages, schooling Gaethje in lopsided fashion.

It was a disastrous start to the fight for Oliveira, as Gaethje tagged him several times with precise stand-up strikes.

However, Oliveira found the perfect opening with a quick sprawl that caught Gaethje off guard, allowing him to establish position for the match-sealing rear-naked choke.

Four years have passed, and a lot has happened in their respective UFC careers, with Oliveira entering a losing streak before capturing the BMF belt, while Gaethje bounced back by defeating Ilia Topuria to become the undisputed lightweight champion.

With the upset win, Gaethje handed Topuria his first UFC defeat, snapping his 17-fight winning streak en route to a total fight bonus of USD 825,000, or PHP 49,795,350, after bagging the Performance of the Night award.

“I’m just waiting for a phone call,” Oliveira added.

“There’s a lot of history behind this matchup. I have a lot of respect for him, just like I respect every opponent, but this fight has to happen. Like I posted, I’m just waiting for my phone to ring.”