'Stop talking about retirement': Charles Oliveira still has plenty of fight left in him

Charles Oliveira has no plans of walking away anytime soon.

Ahead of his UFC Fight Night 261 headliner vs. Rafael Fiziev (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 11, Oliveira (35-11 MMA, 23-11 UFC) has grown tired of media asking him about his retirement plans. He clarified that hanging up his gloves hasn’t even crossed his mind.

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“No, no, no – forget it,” Oliveira told Ag Fight (h/t Championship Rounds). “People are trying to retire me before I want to. I haven’t even thought about retirement. In every interview I’ve done today, all of them asked me about retirement. I have no desire to retire whatsoever.

“I don’t want to retire. There’s a lot that needs to happen. I’m very happy with what I’m doing. I’m only 35. there’s a lot still to come. So stop talking about retirement. I don’t want to retire.”

Those talks perhaps emerged due to 35-year-old Oliveira coming off the first clean knockout loss of his career to Ilia Topuria at UFC 317 in June. Many questioned his quick turnaround against a dangerous striker in Fiziev, but Oliveira assured he was cleared to compete less than four months removed from the Topuria knockout.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Forget retirement, Charles Oliveira still has plenty of fight left