Charles Oliveira feared his career was over after a mysterious injury in his first fight against Max Holloway. Holloway (27-8) will put his BMF title on the line in a rematch against Oliveira (36-11) in the main event at UFC 326 on March 7 in Las Vegas. The two lightweights first met more than a decade ago in a featherweight bout in 2015. Oliveira was visibly in pain after attempting a takedown in the opening round. As “do Bronx” got back to his feet, he continued to hold his neck in pain, forcing the referee to intervene.
At the time, the injury was believed to be an esophageal tear. However, Oliveira believes that most people could not explain his injury. The Brazilian recently revealed that the injury caused him to lose feeling in his left side, leading to rumors of paralysis. Oliveira didn’t even feel the IV on his left arm in the ambulance. The future lightweight champion admits he feared his career was over.
Serious concerns
“I lost movement on my left side,” Oliveira said recently New York Post Sports. “I think a lot of people didn’t know how to explain what it was, so they talked about the esophagus and stuff like that, but it was an injury to my neck. There were conversations that I could have been paralyzed… In the ambulance the guys were trying to put an IV in my arm, and I couldn’t even feel it because I couldn’t feel my left side, so I was afraid my career was over at that point.”
Both Holloway and Oliveira have firmly established themselves as UFC stars over the past decade. Holloway is coming off a win over Dustin Poirier, which saw him bounce back from a knockout loss to Ilia Topuria. Meanwhile, Oliveira is coming off a victory over Mateusz Gamrot, which also saw him bounce back from a defeat against Topuria.
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