By Valmir Silva

Photo UFC

Two months ago, Charles “do Bronx’s” Oliveira debuted on the greatest MMA event on earth. The quick submission over Darren Elkins made him earn an invitation, on and a half months after his debut, to face the TUF winner Efrain Escudero, who he submitted on the third round. Once again the boy from the Bronx’s had just a little time to rest and now will face the tough Jim Miller, who is coming from a five wins sequence, on UFC 124, which happens on December 11 in Montreal, Canada. But Charles is not worried about it, it’s the other way around: he wants to fight. On an interview with our collaborator Valmir Silva, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt talked about his training and the expectations for his third fight on UFC. Check here below.

Is this fight against Jim Miller on UFC 124 confirmed?

They’ve just sent me the contract, I’ve accepted the purse and signed the contract. I don’t know if he did the same, but everything’s practically confirmed.

Have you seen anything about his game yet?

I’ve just watched one of his fights on the same event I did (UFC Fight Night 22), which was against Gleison Tibau. But I haven’t had enough time to watch it better since then.

Did you expect you would get on UFC and win two great wins and to be quoted as the highlight of the year?

I didn’t expect all of it. I hoped to do a hard work in there. I was training very hard, who knows me knows I’m working and focused to be on Ultimate. I knew I could do great fights and thanks God I’m doing it. The first submission came at 41s of the first round, and the second with (Efrain Escudero), who brought me up on the third round, I also submitted. I was surprised that I was pointed out to be considered the highlight of the year. I’m thrilled and the team is very happy and it’s a sign we’ve been doing a good work, and let’s move on…. It’s like everybody says: if it’s working, we don’t change.

How is your preparation going? Will you go to the United States to train with Macaco or will you keep the trainings in Sao Paulo with Ericson Cardozo?

The hard training is here with Eric on Bronx’s Gold Team, in Vicente de Carvalho, on Guarujá, and, 10 or 15 days before the fight, we’ll finish the preparation there with Macaco in Texas. But the hardest one is the one we do here in Sao Paulo. The team’s good, it’s all about happiness. The expectations are for me to stay here in Brazil to keep this preparation.

When you face a good striker, wrestler or one guy who’s good at the ground game… Do you always go for the submission?

I don’t think that way, I’d say it’s 50-50. I’m improving my boxing skills more and more, and if they make a mistake, I can knockout or get the submission, this is the game. We do what we can with what we have.

How was it like to completely change from the ridiculous purses in Brazil (compared to the ones on the United States) and suddenly everything changes with your entrance on the biggest event on earth?

Well, now we can dedicate ourselves exclusively to the trainings, we don’t need to work more to compensate the money, it’s wonderful. Now I can help my teammates who have the same dream I do. My team knows I’ve always dreamed with this moment, earning things from my Jiu-Jitsu and MMA skills, so I can say that God’s doing an amazing job with my life. I can’t explain who does it feel to fight there, the guys pay you well, treat you kindly, completely different from Brazil.

Tell us how it was before Ultimate, when you had to slip you time between working and training…

Actually I still teach from 10:30pm to midnight on Bronx’s Gold Team. But I used to do more than that. Now that I’m on UFC, I can focus exclusively on my trainings, in my future. Before I didn’t have enough money to buy stuff. I have a girlfriend, Thalita, and sometimes I wanted to take her out for a nice meal and I couldn’t afford it. Now I can go out with her and it what I want… So it’s much better.

Can you say you’re living a dream?

Literally a dream. Now, I’m not great. But I can buy my stuff. Well, I bought a new closet. My house is humble, who knows me I almost live on a slum. Now, thanks God, if my girlfriend says: “Baby, I want to eat a cheeseburger with salad today”, I can afford it. If my friend comes to ask me: “Charles, I’m feeling like eating something but I can’t afford it”, I go there and help him. I’m a humble guy, I like to help my friends. Thanks God I’m living my dream, a new life.

Who would you like to thank for getting to the spot where you are now?

First of all, God. My father and mother who have always helped me. My girlfriend Thalita, who helped me in all ways she could. Fighters know that, when you’re focused for the fight, you give it all up. So she deserves that I thank her for comprehension. I thank my aunt Regiane, my coach Eric, Macaco and all my team… I want them to know I’ve always given all I could to make them happy.