Even if he beats Paul Felder at UFC 218, Charles Oliveira still plans return to 145-pound division

DETROIT – A quick submission of Will Brooks wasn’t enough to convince Charles Oliveira to stay at lightweight. But what if a win over Paul Felder at Saturday’s UFC 218 follows?

Still not happening, says Oliveira.

That isn’t a total surprise. Immediately after beating the odds to finish Brooks with an impressive standing rear-naked choke at UFC 210 in April, Oliveira was clear in his intentions. But, after months of asking to return to the octagon, the option to step in for Al Iaquinta against Felder on short-notice was offered.

So Oliveira, as he’s been known to do, said yes.

“I’m a UFC employee – wherever they want me to fight, I will,” Oliveira told MMAjunkie. “But if they asked me to decide, I’d want to be at 145. We’re fighting Paul Felder at 155 and if, God bless, we win, we’ll ask to return to 145. And we’ll see what happens.”

Oliveira (22-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) meets Felder (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in an FS1-televised preliminary card bout at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass and before the pay-per-view main card.

While Oliveira didn’t start his UFC run at featherweight, that’s been his official division since 2012. He’s fought 12 times between then and UFC 210, but only eight of those were 145-pound bouts – four of them, due to OIiveira’s misses, ended up at catchweight.

The most recent slip was a big one: at UFC Fight Night 98, Oliveira missed the limit in a meeting with Ricardo Lamas by an entire division. But that involved some special circumstances. Not only did Oliveira take it on short-notice, he had to deal with Mexico City’s notoriously tough altitude to shed the pounds.

“It all played a part,” Oliveira said. “I ended up coming in way overweight, and the UFC thought it’d be better if I moved up. That’s sort of what happened.”

Making 155 is, of course, easier. But the 145-pound division is where Oliveira believes he belongs. Rather than turning into a lightweight contender, he hopes back-to-back wins over the likes of Brooks and Felder grant him enough goodwill to return to not only where he feels the most comfortable – but where he wants to be champion.

“I beat Will Brooks, who’s a very tough guy and an ex-champion (at Bellator),” Oliveira said. “So it carries a lot of weight. And now there’s Paul Felder, who might not be ranked but who everyone knows is a very tough guy. Going back down after these two wins, I think we’re in the mix.

“Of course there’s Cub Swanson, there’s Frankie Edgar, these guys up there. But I think, getting back to 145, one or two fights and we’re close to the belt again.”

The matchup with Felder offers somewhat of a clear stylistic narrative. As his nine submission wins in the octagon show, Oliveira’s grappling is his biggest weapon. While Felder, who comes off back-to-back knockout wins, has a penchant for striking battles.

Given this general outlook, Oliveira believes Felder won’t want to take his chances on the ground.

“I think not only Paul Felder, but no one in the division wants to go to the mat with me,” Oliveira said. “I think Felder will have the same strategy: to trade blows and keep the distance, not wanting me to shorten the distance and take him down.

“I think none of them want that. I see it as classic: He’s a great striker, and I’m a guy with great ground game.”

But, if it comes down to it, Oliveira is in no way intimidated by the thought of meeting his opponent where he’s strongest.

“I’m at the best team in the world, Chute Boxe Dhiego Lima,” Oliveira said. “They’re the best at muay Thai. I’m at 100 percent, both on the feet and on the ground. I’ll surprise the world in this fight.”

To hear more from Oliveira, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 218, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.