Coach: Charles Oliveira Training With ‘Top’ Iranian Wrestler for Nearly 3 Years

The coach of former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Charles Oliveira has made public his secret weapon to prepare Oliveira for his next fight.

In October, ex-lightweight king Oliveira will vie for the vacant belt against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280. The Brazilian only lost his title after missing weight by a fraction of a pound, and he went on to tap Justin Gaethje in the first round to record the victory. The surging 32-year-old has beaten Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson, Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Gaethje in the span of a little over two years, firmly cementing himself as the best fighter in the division. Oliveira is coached by Diego Lima, the head of Chute Boxe, who earned a nomination in the 2022 World MMA Awards for “Coach of the Year” due to his fine work in building Oliveira into the force that he has become. Lima spoke to Sherdog on Wednesday about his fighter’s achievement, as well as his own.

“I was really happy to have my job recognized worldwide,” a thrilled Lima told Sherdog. “What Charles is doing, together with Chute Boxe’s support, just proves something I’ve been saying for a long time: Brazilian fighters [don’t] need to leave the country to be champions.”

Chute Boxe is a team effort, and Lima is not the sole coach of the Brazilian stable, and it is gaining attention from outside observers. Recently, Fight Ready’s Eric Albarracin spoke about Oliveira’s training, and he believed that there is more that can be done at Chute Boxe and Oliveira himself regarding his wrestling. As it turned out, Lima had quietly answered one of those questions several years ago, and he felt it prudent to share this information: Oliveira trains with an Iranian wrestler, Alireza Noei, and he has for almost three years.

“Ali is not just a top wrestler, he did a great job adapting it to MMA,” Lima explained. “I have one friend who trained in Russia, later spent some time training with Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Makhachev in AKA. He also trained with Ali here in Chute Boxe, and he told me Ali was the best [wrestler that had adapted to MMA] he ever seen in his life.”

Some prognosticate that Makhachev’s wrestling will be the difference-maker in their meeting, if Makhachev can stifle the offensively-minded Brazilian on the mat. Lima is not so sure about that, and made it a point to note that homework is being done on Makhachev.

“One thing I can guarantee for sure, wherever this fight goes, Charles will be attacking,” the head coach said confidently of his fighter. “Charles never fights to not lose; his goal is always knockout or submit all the time. That’s why I have no doubt this fight will not go 25 minutes.”

Lima and the team eventually accepted the decision made by the Arizona Department of Gaming on May 6 ahead of UFC 274, but it resulted in a change for the team. Due to the reported miscommunication and dispute about alleged backstage scale differences, Chute Boxe has updated its protocol as it pertains to weigh-ins.

“We are taking a big team with us two weeks before to get adapted to the time zone; also, after what happened in the last edition, we are also taking our own scale,” Lima stated. “From UFC 274 on, no matter if in [the] UFC or any other event in the world, we started to film every time our fighters [when they] step [on] the scale.”