UFC’s Oliveira not allowed ‘War Machine’ nickname
During Friday’s official weigh-ins at the Nilson Nelson gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil, Wendell Oliveira was announced as “The Machine.”
Wendell Oliveira is scheduled to make his UFC debut at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 51, but will do so without the nickname he’s carried through his career:
During Friday’s official weigh-ins at the Nilson Nelson gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil, Oliveira was announced as “The Machine,” and UFC officials confirmed to MMAFighting.com that he had to change his nickname.
“I won’t change my nickname because I’m the real ‘War Machine,’” Oliveira told MMAFighting.com on Thursday, before knowing that he would have to.
War Machine is also the real legal name of former UFC fighter Jon Koppenhaver who was recently arrested on multiple felony charges, which is for sure the reason Oliveira was not allowed to keep it as a nickname.