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Charles Oliveira left without opponent after injury derails UFC Rio main event

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Sep 20, 2025 9:40 AM ET

Top-ranked lightweight contender Rafael Fiziev has reportedly withdrawn from his headlining fight with Charles Oliveira at UFC Rio.

Scheduled to take place at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 11, UFC Rio was supposed to see Oliveira return for the first time since he was knocked out by Ilia Topuria in a fight for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317.

Plenty of fans expressed concern at Oliveira’s decision to make such a quick turnaround after a violent knockout loss, but now his place on UFC Rio is in serious jeopardy following a report from AG Fight that Fiziev has withdrawn from the event due to injury.

Rafael Fiziev Misses Out On Huge Opportunity At UFC Rio

Currently the UFC’s #10-ranked lightweight contender, Fiziev was knocked out in his promotional debut in 2019 before he put together a six-fight win streak that included five-straight post-fight bonuses.

The 32-year-old extended that run of bonuses to six-straight fights when he lost a majority decision to Justin Gaethje at UFC 286. A return to action later that year saw Fiziev unfortunately suffer a leg injury during the second round of his main event bout with Mateusz Gamrot, and after a lengthy layoff he returned to rematch Gaethje on short notice at UFC 313.

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The two lightweights once again took home “Fight of the Night” honors at UFC 313, but Fiziev’s losing streak stretched to three fights when he dropped a unanimous decision. “Ataman” snapped that skid against Ignacio Bahamondes in June, and a UFC Rio matchup with Oliveira would have given the 32-year-old a chance to break into the lightweight division’s Top 5.

Charles Oliviera Coming Off A Failed Bid To Reclaim UFC Gold

Many fans looked at the Fiziev fight as a dangerous one for Oliveira, as the #4-ranked lightweight contender would have been fighting down the rankings in addition to the fact that he was making a fairly quick return from a nasty knockout.

One of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster, Oliveira relinquished the promotion’s lightweight belt when he missed weight ahead of a title defense against Gaethje in 2022. The 35-year-old was submitted by Islam Makhachev the following October and has alternated wins and losses since then, defeating Beneil Dariush and Michael Chandler but coming up short against Arman Tsarukyan and Topuria.

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It will be difficult for the UFC to find a suitable opponent for Oliveira on such short notice if the promotion does intend to keep him on UFC Rio, and currently the card looks like this just a few weeks out from October 11.

UFC Rio Fight Card

• Co-Main Event: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Montel Jackson

• Jhonata Diniz vs. Mario Pinto

• Vicente Luque vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio

• Gabriel Bonfim vs. Randy Brown

• Valter Walker vs. Mohammed Usman

• Lucas Rocha vs. Stewart Nicoll

• Vitor Petrino vs. Thomas Petersen

• Julia Polastri vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

• Irina Alekseeva vs. Beatriz Mesquita

• Jafel Filho vs. Clayton Carpenter

• Lucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell

• Ricardo Ramos vs. Kaan Ofli