Islam Makhachev is convinced Charles Oliveira initially was trying to dodge him. Makhachev (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) meets Oliveira (33-8 MMA, 21-8 UFC) for the vacant lightweight title in the UFC 280 main event Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi. But Makhachev says there were talks of Michael Chandler sliding into the equation. Oliveira was stripped off his lightweight title for missing weight prior to submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 and was already a lock for the next title bout.
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