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UFC’s Charles Oliveira is being forced off UFC 294 10 days before his rematch against Islam Makhachev.
UFC CEO Dana White confirmed the news during a press conference at Tuesday’s Contender Series event and revealed that Oliveira suffered a nasty cut above his eye during sparring that will not heal in time for his fight vs Makhachev.
Dana White confirms Charles Oliveira is out and Alexander Volkanovski is in.#UFC294 #UFC pic.twitter.com/srlCZtBXom
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 11, 2023
“Round 5 of sparring last night, before he’s supposed to jump on a plane today, splits his eyebrow wide open. Had it stitched up last night. Obviously can’t fly out here with that.
“They didn’t call us. We would have had him go to a plastic surgeon. They would have sewed it from the inside-out, get that thing done the right way. These guys never call us like they should when something happens. They call us after they get it stitched up. On the flip side, too, I could see him not wanting to risk it, getting a shot like this.”
In a video message posted on Twitter, Oliveira showed off the gruesome cut over his eye that will keep him out of UFC 294.
https://twitter.com/CharlesDoBronxs/status/1711960181586669587
Here are photos of Charles Oliveira's cut that forced him to withdraw from UFC 294 that he posted on his Instagram.
He stated that it was the result of a clash of heads during his sparring session. pic.twitter.com/AVbLp5gSDw
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 11, 2023
The UFC has announced that Alex Volkanovski will replace Oliveira on the card.
THE REMATCH. NEXT SATURDAY. #UFC294. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/PUAi84fhHF
— UFC (@ufc) October 11, 2023