Charles Oliveira successfully made weight for his co-main event clash with Beneil Dariush later tonight (Sat., June 10, 2023) at UFC 289 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, but the former UFC lightweight champion had to battle through some difficult emotions to get there.
This is an important weekend for Oliveira as he makes his first Octagon appearance since getting submitted by Islam Makhachev and losing his 155-pound title at UFC 280 back in Oct. 2022. Oliveira is out to prove that he’s still the best lightweight in the world and the same dominant fighter that racked off an 11-fight win streak from 2018-2022.
Oliveira will have his hands full this weekend against Dariush, who is riding an eight-fight win streak. Before “Do Bronx” gets his hands on Dariush at UFC 289 he needed to successfully cut weight and hit the scale Friday morning (results HERE). Oliveira’s weight misses are seemingly a thing of the past, but that never makes things easier.
Luckily, Oliveira had the help of his family for this week’s weight cut. Not only has the Brazilian fighter been receiving video messages from his young daughter, but his parents decided to cut weight alongside him. They may be back in Brazil, but Oliveira’s mother and father also fasted as “Do Bronx” cut down to 155-pounds.
“Lots of video messages every day,” said Oliveira (shown above via ESPN MMA). “I wake up with my daughter saying ‘hi,’ super happy. We are focused. Let’s go!”
“Do everything right, so you go there and become a champion again,” said Oliveira’s daughter during a video message.“
“This is what motivates me,” added Oliveira. “It makes me feel good. My mom, my dad, my daughter. They are very important to me.
“For those who don’t know, my mom and dad are also fasting. They are not eating, that’s f—king crazy. I tell them to eat, but they say no. They want to do it with me. They are there, the two of them. It’s tough.
“It’s f—king hard man. But that’s what they want. Like what they said, just one more day. Tomorrow it will be all good. So it’s tough, it’s a hard week. S—t’s hard.”
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 289 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early “Prelims” matches at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+, followed by the remaining “Prelims” undercard balance at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+, before the final PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 289: “Nunes vs. Aldana” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 289 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
