‘Shogun’ Rua Believes Charles Oliveira Should Face Conor McGregor at Welterweight Next

One of the biggest stars in Chute Boxe history relished Charles Oliveira’s victory in the UFC 2699 headliner.

A betting underdog heading into the main event, Oliveira submitted Dustin Poirier in the third round of their lightweight championship bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Mauricio Rua reflected on the triumph of the Chute Boxe Diego Lima product in a recent interview with Sherdog.com.

“What a fight! To tell you the truth, I couldn’t understand the odds having Dustin as favorite after Charles beat all the submission records and has the most finishes in promotion history,” Rua said. “Once again, he had an amazing performance based on his versatility. I hope the critics finally understand why he is wearing the lightweight belt.”

After the bout, Conor McGregor called for a clash with Oliveira in a post on social media. “What date am I fighting Oliveira,” wrote McGregor, who is still recovering from a broken leg suffered in a loss to Poirier in July.

Rua, for one, is in favor of Oliveira facing McGregor – but up a weight class at 170 pounds.

“If I were his manager of course I would rather face McGregor [at welterweight] for two reasons,” Rua said. “Besides the bigger money a fight with Conor could provide, he wouldn’t need to put his belt on the line.”

So what date am I fighting Oliveira?

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 13, 2021

“Shogun” also discussed the strategy he would use against Justin Gaethje or McGregor if he were Oliveira´s head coach. UFC president Dana White has said on more than one occasion that Gaethje is the likely No. 1 contender at 155 pounds.

“I would use muay Thai as a camouflage against both, just like he used with Dustin,” Rua said. “When they look to exchange, Charles has an opening to take them down.”

Meanwhile, Rua compared Amanda Nunes’ loss to Julianna Pena in the UFC 269 co-main event to his upset defeat against Forrest Griffin in his Octagon debut at UFC 76.

“Being a favorite has a good and a bad side,” Rua said. “The bad side is the pressure the favorite always faces. When everybody expects you to win fast and the underdog gives you a balanced fight, you start to get frustrated. I always fought better as an underdog.

“No doubt Amanda is such a warrior, but I felt after she got tired and frustrated, she kind of surrendered in that second round. And I speak about that from my own experience.”

Rua entered the UFC as a celebrated Pride Fighting Championships star in 2007 and he was expected to dispatch Griffin, “The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner, with relative ease.

“When I was coming as Pride grand prix champion, everybody thought it would be an easy fight,” he said. “I got frustrated, tired and ended up losing in the third round. That motivated me a lot to train for revenge four years later in Rio de Janeiro. This time I fought much better and won in the first round. “I just hope Amanda gets the chance for revenge as I did against Griffin.”