Six months after quick win over Myles Jury, Charles Oliveira upset with lack of fights

CURITIBA, Brazil -- Charles Oliveira made quick work of Myles Jury at UFC on FOX 17. Almost six months have passed, and the Brazilian featherweight is still waiting for his next fight. "do Bronx", who won five of his last six bouts with four submissions, is bothered by the fact that it’s taking so long for him to return to the Octagon.

"It does bother me," Oliveira said during a media scrum in Curitiba, Brazil, prior to UFC 198. "Every fighter knows that when you have a fight coming up you train harder. I’m training a bit, staying in shape, but not as hard as I would be if I had a fight. I’m waiting for the UFC to call me. You see events being made, fights happening, and wait for your name to show up… I will fight anyone in this division, but it’s not happening. But I’m cool. I know it will happen in the right time, and when it happens, it’s going to be a great fight and I will be 100 percent for it."

"I don’t know what to say," he continued. "I did a great fight with Myles Jury, a tough opponent, and defeated him quickly. I thought the UFC would call me right away, but that didn’t happen. I’m training and waiting. It will happen in the right time."

Oliveira failed to make weight one more time last December, coming in five pounds over the limit for his featherweight clash with Jury. The Brazilian missed weight in three of his 10 featherweight fights under the UFC banner, but guarantees it’s not happening again.

"I’m trying to become more professional," he said. "When I entered the UFC, I only knew jiu-jitsu. I’m getting better in my striking. And I’m not the one saying that, it’s the fans. I’m training in each area, brought a boxer to train me, a wrestler, so I’m trying to become more professional to become the best in the world, and that’s not only in the training area. I hired a conditioning coach, I have a nutritionist now, so everything is happening for me to become more professional. I’m sure that, no matter who I’m fighting and where I’m fighting next, I will make weight and I will win."

While he doesn’t a fight lined up, Oliveira looks how the division rolls out without Conor McGregor. With the undisputed 145-pound champion campaigning for a rematch with Nate Diaz at 170 pounds, former champion Jose Aldo will rematch Frankie Edgar for the interim belt, and Oliveira picks his countryman to win.

"Aldo is a phenom, he deserves respect," Oliveira said. "He will win the interim belt, for sure, and the trash talker will accept the fight next and Aldo will win the belt back to Brazil. It should have happened already. Frankie has a big name and is evolving a lot. We can see that, but Aldo wins, for sure."

As for McGregor insisting on fighting outside the division while holding the featherweight crown, Oliveira thinks it’s "wrong".

"I think it’s wrong. The guy who holds a belt has to be willing to defend it whenever the UFC calls," Oliveira said. "They are doing an interim with Aldo and Frankie now, and I think they should put the winner against (McGregor) three or five months later. But, like I said, we’re employees, and Zuffa decides. We only go there to fight."