Right after he won by submission over Justin Gaethje, the first thing Charles Oliveira did was jump over the cage and look for Dana White.
“You didn’t make weight,” White told Oliveira
“I know. You didn’t make weight. You’re the No. 1 contender.”
The reason Charles (33-8 MMA, 21-8 UFC) is the No. 1 contender and not still the lightweight champs he was over weight by a half-pound Friday,
“It’s a nightmare. I mean, it’s a nightmare,” White said
“We have this issue where guys come out, and they’ll start checking the (UFC’s) scale the night before. All the Europeans and guys from other parts of the world do kilos, so they all start f*cking with the scale to look at kilos. And who knows?”
“Listen, he’s the guy. He’s the guy,” White said. “He didn’t make weight. We have rules. He didn’t make the weight. The belt is vacant. I’m sure in the minds of the media and fight fans, Oliveira is the champion. You know? But technically he’s the No. 1 contender now. He’s the guy.”
“We were all sure that we made weight on Thursday,” Oliveira told one of the reporters.
“It’s in our hands. They’re not going to take that away from us. I went into the octagon to defend the title. I don’t have to get it back. The champion is Charles Oliveira, and we all know that.”