OLIVEIRA: TAKE The BMF Belt Back — LOPES Gets REAL MMA
“Take it somewhere else.”
Charles Oliveira would rather hand the BMF title back than defend it without grappling — and Diego Lopes gets his full game at UFC 335.
"Take it somewhere else."
That was Oliveira's answer to fans who want BMF fights kept standing. He told MMA Fighting that a belt which bans grappling is not a belt he wants.
The BMF champion defends his title against Lopes in the UFC 335 main event on Saturday, December 12. The argument over how he won the belt still follows him into that fight.
The Holloway Fight Started This
Oliveira won the BMF title in March. He beat Max Holloway by unanimous decision over five rounds.
The win was clear. The reaction was not. Many fans said a grappling-heavy fight did not fit the BMF name, and some called for BMF fights to be striking only.
Oliveira has heard that talk for months. This week, he stopped being polite about it.
The Champion's Case
His case is simple. Nobody in the division had done to Holloway what he did that night, standing or on the ground.
He says every takedown he tried landed. He also points to his best punches and kicks finding their mark across the five rounds.
The record behind the talk is real. Oliveira owns 17 submission wins, the most in UFC history.
"Take it somewhere else."
That is not a man planning to change. That is a champion telling his critics the belt can go before the style does.
Lopes Gets Everything
Lopes brings a test that fits the argument. He has never been submitted in his MMA career.
He is also moving up in weight for this fight. The bigger man, the record holder, and the full MMA rule set all wait for him in December.
Oliveira says he feels no pressure. He wants to bring a better, more complete version of himself than the one who beat Holloway and Mateusz Gamrot.
So here is the question for December 12: can Lopes survive the greatest submission game in UFC history, or does Oliveira prove that real MMA was never the problem?
