Charles Oliveira wants to return to the featherweight division

Charles Oliveira has had an unfortunately long list of failed cuts to the featherweight division’s 145-pound cap. His latest failed cut occurred back in November, when he missed weight for a featherweight bout with Ricardo Lamas by a whopping 10 pounds.

In the wake of this failed cut to featherweight – which culminated in a submission loss – Oliveira was sent back up to lightweight where the cut would be less severe. He made his lightweight return against former Bellator champ Will Brooks, and he couldn’t have looked better in doing so, locking up a standing rear-naked choke for the win.

Despite his dazzling return to lightweight, Oliveira is still keen to return to featherweight, explaining to MMAFighting.com that his previous weight issues are in the past.

“Anything you do in your life, you have to be a professional,” Oliveira said. “I was having issues on my old team, and we were always a little over in weight. That’s why I had weight issues.

“People were shocked when I was 10 pounds over in Mexico (against Ricardo Lamas), but they forget I took the fight on 19 days’ notice after a hard fight with Anthony Pettis. I was hurt after that fight, I wasn’t training at all, and had to lose a lot of weight.”

“I can easily make 155 pounds, but I felt terrible before that fight (with Lamas). That’s why the UFC asked me to fight at 155 now. But I have a new team now, and everything is perfect.”

With these issues in the past, Oliveira is now confident he can make 145 without issue.

“If you put me at 145, I’ll make weight like everyone else,” he said. “I’m happy, in a good moment. This is the time to go back to 145, make it happen and become UFC champion.”

While he hopes the UFC will allow him to return to 145, however, he clarified that he’s willing to take a fight at 155 if that’s what’s offered.

“I’m an employee, I work for the UFC,” he said. “My goal is to become champion at 145. If they called me today saying we want you to fight this guy at 145 in two months, I’ll put on a show for everyone. But if they ask me to fight at 155, bring it. I’ll be ready.”

Do you think the UFC should Charles Oliveira return to featherweight?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/29/2017.