Charles Oliveira names four Brazilian football legends who inspired his UFC career

São Paulo – As Charles Oliveira prepares to face Max Holloway at UFC 326, the former UFC lightweight champion has opened up about the Brazilian football icons who helped shape his competitive mindset. Speaking with Daniel Cormier ahead of the bout, Oliveira traced his earliest athletic inspirations to the jogo bonito played on the pitches of his childhood rather than the mats that would later define his career.

“Ronaldo, Ronaldinho… those were the guys who were playing great football, representing Brazil [when I was growing up]. So Kaká, Pelé, those were the guys we looked up to,” Oliveira said, identifying the quartet that captured the imagination of a generation of Brazilians.

The 36-year-old recalled watching the national team’s golden era, highlighted by the 2002 World Cup triumph in which Ronaldo and Ronaldinho starred and a teenage Kaká rode the bench under manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. Pelé, whose three World Cup victories remain unmatched, stood above them all as the standard-bearer for Brazilian excellence.

Oliveira’s reverence for the Seleção extended beyond nostalgia. In a recent feature for TNT Sports, he constructed his “Ultimate Brazilian Footballer,” cherry-picking attributes from countrymen across eras: Ronaldo’s right foot, Ronaldinho’s left foot and overall flair, Neymar’s first touch, Marcelo’s speed, Hulk’s strength, and goalkeeper Ronaldo Giovanelli’s passion.

The fighter insists that witnessing those players carry the weight of a football-mad nation translated directly to his own pursuit of UFC gold. “When you see them succeed on the world stage, you believe you can do the same in your sport,” he explained.

Now, with Holloway awaiting inside the Octagon, Oliveira carries the same flag those legends once did—proof that the spirit of Brazilian greatness travels seamlessly from the Maracanã to the UFC canvas.