Charles Oliveira’s gruelling weight cut has stoked fears for his health heading into his upcoming clash.
The Brazilian icon is set to square off against Ilia Topuria for the vacant lightweight title on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 317.
Former featherweight king Topuria opted to jump up a weight class due to his struggles with making 145lbs.
But heading into this weekend’s blockbuster showdown, it is Oliveira who is experiencing the most adversity while cutting weight.
In a worrying video uploaded to social media on Thursday, Oliveira can be seen boiling himself down to the lightweight limit, wrapped in a towel, surrounded by his team.
The footage has made the rounds online, with several fans left concerned by the state of ‘de Bronxs’.
Reacting to the clip, one supporter wrote: “He looks like a zombie.”
Another commented: “Is he dying or cutting weight?”
A third posted: “He needs to move up, this is ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, somebody else added: “Look at how dehydrated he is.”
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski was left equally worried after coming across a picture of Oliveira’s weight cut on the day of the UFC 317 press conference.
“Is that an old video, is that an old photo? You shouldn’t be doing that yet,” he told Ariel Helwani.
The Brazilian looked to be in serious discomfort as he attempts to make weight“Fair enough, a lot of people like to sweat, they’ll go and get a sweat out.
“Then, after a workout, after a good sweat, they’ll go and keep sweating.
“Even though you’re gonna hydrate back up, everyone likes to get a good sweat.
“And it still does help, you still start depleting a bit of that water each time you do it, but you’re gonna hydrate back up anyway.
“So, if he’s doing that now – cutting weight – and then he has to do a press conference tonight, and then cut the rest…
“That’s a long time to be sort of dehydrated. You should be rehydrating.
Oliveira is due to face Topuria for the UFC lightweight title on SaturdayGETTY“Maybe it’s an old one, and they’re just getting ready for the weight-cut, and that’s why they posted it. Do you reckon? I don’t know.”
Oliveira is no stranger to heavy weight cuts, having previously competed at featherweight for the first half of his UFC career.
A move up in weight gave Oliveira a new lease of life as he made the transition from a top 15 fighter to world champion by stopping Michael Chandler in 2021 for the lightweight strap.
He defended the belt twice by dispatching Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje before he was eventually dethroned by Islam Makhachev.
Now, he has the opportunity to become a two-time lightweight champion following Makhachev’s switch to welterweight.
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