UFC: Charles Oliveira doesn’t care if it’s Khabib Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson – he just wants a title shot

UFC lightweight Charles Oliveira says he will be sitting ringside for champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s fight against Tony Ferguson next month in an attempt to get a title shot.

Oliveira (29-8, 1NC) defeated Kevin Lee (18-6) via third-round submission at an empty Ginasio Nilson Nelson stadium in at UFC 170 Brasilia on Sunday. It was the Brazilian native’s seventh consecutive finish in what has been the best run of his UFC career.

“Tony Ferguson and Khabib [Nurmagomedov], I’ll be sitting in the first row,” the 30-year-old said in his post-fight interview. “There’s no denying it, I’m one of the best in the world, the belt’s going to be mine.”

Oliveira revealed that he was close to pulling out 15 days out from fight day due to several reasons. Having been convinced by his coaches to fight on, a win over Lee almost certainly puts Oliveira in the top 10-ranked lightweights on the roster.

“I’ve been calling Kevin Lee out for a year, I had some injuries on my right shoulder coming into the this fight, I came into the weight cut too heavy, I was worried about that, but I’m happy I put on a show for everybody,” he said to ESPN.

“I don’t care [whether it’s Khabib or Ferguson], I’m gonna win by knockout or by submission, I will be sitting front row for that fight. I’m here to make history – I made history tonight by fighting in the UFC with no audience. I’m ready to fight anyone, top 10, top 5 ... I deserve a chance at the belt.”

Oliveira, who beat contenders Jared Gordon, Nik Lentz and David Teymur last year, hoped his historic performance in front of an empty stadium would reach new viewers online.

“It was a shame there was no crowd to watch, but congratulations to the UFC for making sure this event happened. I’m happy people at home watched the fight, some people who haven’t watched UFC maybe watched it tonight. I showed that once again a guy from the favela, from the community, it taking over the world.”

The 27-year-old Lee was devastated after losing to another submission choke, this time in the form of a guillotine. He told MMA Fighting: “I mean I got choked, so I dunno, I feel like the fight was going good, I just got choked. I sat in the corner of the third and told them I was going to switch up the game plan, and looking back on it I abandoned it and that was the wrong move. I tried to take control of the fight instead of letting it happen, I choked myself out.”