If Charles Oliveira wants to capitalize on the biggest opportunity of his career at UFC 256, he better be on weight says Tony Ferguson.
Tony Ferguson is currently the #3-ranked lightweight in the world. In addition to the number next to his name, he is also one of the most respected fighters in the entire UFC, let alone the lightweight division. So if Charles Oliveira is able to hand Tony Ferguson a very rare loss at UFC 256, his stock will undoubtedly rise. But Tony Ferguson did not mince words when he let it be known that if Charles Oliveira misses the mark when he weighs in for the event, Ferguson will say “sayonara.”
“I am counting on the Brazilian Charles Oliveira and others to come in overweight like usual,” Ferguson wrote in an Instagram post. “So I’m calling it now. Case law. Short notice fight, Charles Oliveira will not cut weight all week and show up 3-4 pounds over weight and use the excuse of a short notice fight.
“If he shows up that much overweight, we are not competing,” Ferguson continued. “So crew, make sure you visit the kid’s page and encourage him to make weight if you want to see a fight.”
Tony Ferguson’s concerns are not without merit. Charles Oliveira has, in fact, missed weight multiple times during his UFC career, even having four fights moved to catchweight due to him not making the lightweight limit. The most recent occasion occurred in 2016 when Oliveira weighed in at 4.5 pounds over the limit ahead of his fight against Ricardo Lamas. Tony Ferguson has no intentions of being the next catchweight fight for Oliveira, and he has given the Brazilian three days’ notice to make sure there are no complications ahead of their UFC 256 contest Saturday night.
UFC 256 takes place Saturday, December 12, 2020, from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada and will stream exclusively on ESPN+.
What do you think of Tony Ferguson’s warning to Charles Oliveira ahead of UFC 256?
