Charles Oliveira is a legend, but his game plan against Ilia Topuria left a lot of people scratching their heads. The fighter with the most finishes got finished himself, as fellow lightweight fighter Paddy Pimblett claimed that ‘Do Bronxs’s tactics were ‘half embarrassing.” Following his 1st-round KO loss, clips of one of Conor McGregor’s most famous rivals have come to the fore, highlighting Oliveira’s major mistakes.
Eddie Alvarez, who dropped his lightweight belt to Conor McGregor in 2016 for the Irishman to become a double champion, had shared a pretty interesting insight UFC 317 headliner prior to that PPV going down. As Charles Oliveira faltered in the first round, Alvarez believes that if he had made use of the switch step to attack the forearms, he might have been the one to be crowned champion that night.
“He could finish him if he does the switch step… Just keep firing the switch steps right here on his forearms,” Eddie Alvarez stated in a video posted on social media. Meanwhile, Ilia Topuria is all about his boxing, even though he’s got his ground game as well. To tackle his style of swaying right and left, Alvarez suggested that Charles Oliveira maintain his distance and keep attacking on the forearm with kicks rather than Topuria’s head, which would take effect as the fight goes on.
“Any guy who’s in front of us and he’s swaying like a boxer, if you wanna take that away from a guy, stay nice and long… every time he goes to sway [kick in the forearms] again,” Eddie Alvarez added. “We’re not worried about kicking him in the head. All I’m doing [is] I just keep smashing his forearms. Little by little, these things start to fall.”
Well, Eddie Alvarez wanted Charles Oliveira to mix and match his strikes to break Ilia Topuria’s rhythm. But that did not happen. This brings us to another MMA expert and Octagon analyst, Din Thomas, who was baffled to see ‘Do Bronxs’s failed game plan as well. Here’s what he had to say.
Din Thomas cannot comprehend Charles Oliveira’s game plan
Yes, Charles Oliveira has confused a lot of people, including Din Thomas, who was surprised to see the former champion not making use of his range. Instead, he chose to move forward towards Ilia Topuria, which he claims was a red flag. Even Demetrious Johnson, who caught up with Thomas while travelling to Seattle, could not make anything of Oliveira’s blunder. The Octagon analyst even agreed with Eddie Alvarez’s suggestion about attacking the arms with his kicks as well.
“He just started walking him down, and that should have never been in the playbook,” Din Thomas stated on the On Paper podcast. “I took the same flight to Seattle that Demetrious Johnson took. And I caught up with him at the airport, and we’re talking about the fight, and he’s like, ‘Dude, I don’t know what Charles was thinking’… He should have been using his footwork and kicks to stop the jab… I don’t know if it was an error in the execution of what his game plan was.”
Madison Square Garden NEW YORK CITY, NY -NOVEMBER 16:Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler meet in the octagon for a 3-round bout for UFC309 – Jones vs Miocic at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City, NY Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages Louis Grasse / SPP PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxBRAxMEX Copyright: xLouisxGrassex/xSPPx spp-en-LoGr-lrg2411164271670_UFCVegas309
Well, what’s done is done, and Charles Oliveira has acknowledged that in his statement following his loss. He failed on his promise to his son about winning the title for him, having done it once for his daughter. Nevertheless, he’s still in the game, and fans will be hoping to see him bounce back stronger. Meanwhile, let us know your thoughts on what went wrong for the former champion in the comments down below.
The post Charles Oliveira’s Costly Mistake Against Ilia Topuria Exposed by Conor McGregor’s Rival and UFC Octagon Analyst appeared first on EssentiallySports.