Charles Oliveira has a clear plan for how to take down the lightweight champion.

Ilia Topuria is currently away from the UFC, dealing with personal matters outside of fighting. While he is out, his next opponent has already been lined up.

Last Saturday night, Justin Gaethje defeated Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 to claim his second interim title at 155 pounds. The win set up a future unification bout with ‘El Matador’, marking Gaethje’s third attempt at the undisputed championship.

While most have struggled against Topuria’s power in the Octagon, one fighter who has faced him believes he knows what it will take for ‘The Highlight’ to come out on top this time.

Charles Oliveira says Justin Gaethje needs to take Ilia Topuria to the mat

Topuria knocked out Oliveira at UFC 317, a win that made him the UFC’s tenth two-division champion. The Brazilian star was finished in the opening round after a huge shot from the Spaniard.

With Gaethje’s aggressive style, some expect him to suffer a similar fate when they eventually meet.

‘Do Bronx’ told CasinoBeats that Gaethje would need a different approach to avoid it.

He explained: “It’s a very similar fight. They’re both fighters who look for the fight and want the knockout.

“Unfortunately, I made a lot of mistakes in that fight (against Topuria) and I lost. I think the right path is to apply pressure, to work, to strike on the feet but always closing the distance, trying to take him down.

“That would be the key, pressure from start to finish, landing shots, taking him down, keeping him on the ground.”

Charles Oliveira could return to title picture after UFC 326

Oliveira has faced both the reigning champ and his interim challenger before, and there is a path back to the title mix if results fall his way.

The Brazilian is set to headline UFC 326 in March, taking on Max Holloway for the BMF belt. The winner will be right in the conversation for a lightweight title shot.

If Gaethje does come out on top, Oliveira’s previous submission win over him in 2022 could make a rematch an easy sell.

Since then, he has had two chances to reclaim the belt but came up short against Islam Makhachev and Topuria, following a weight miss that ended his championship run.