Back in January Charles Oliveira reveled that his eyesight was so bad that he was not seeing his opponents clearly. He admitted he can only see at around 50 per cent without glasses.
During an appearance on Brazilian MMA Legends, he said:
“So I see three.”
“If I’m hitting the middle one, it’s all right. I think, ‘Keep this same technique.'”
“Three guys for me is perfect. If I’m hitting the middle on it’s all right.”
He continued: “I’ll tell you the truth: I’m a guy who has a lot of faith in God and it’s no joke. “
“If I take off my glasses, I can only see [at about] 50 per cent. But it never hindered me in the fight.”
“It never hindered me in the fight.”
“Sometimes I walk in without the glasses, sometimes I walk in with the glasses. It depends on my vibe.”
But earlier this months a video was posted to the youtube channel of Brazilian outlet Combate that reported that Oliveira has had surgery to fix his vision. A video that was location restricted and meant just for the Brazilian audience has since been taken down.
According to a source, Oliveira explained in the video that he could now see perfectly: “Now I’m able to see everything when fighting”. According to the video he had gotten it fixed ‘months earlier’.
Oliveira was spotted driving a go-kart sans glasses back in August.
Oliveira was also spotted at target practice since – also without any glasses.
Oliveira was last spotted wearing glasses back in early July of this year. Now here’s where things get tricky. There are two methods to correct eyesight – and each has their own complications. This is especially pertinent because Oliveira is a combat sports athlete who is potentially getting hit often in practice and even eye poked at times. Any such procedure could cause complications.
Justin Gaethje is another athlete that had corrective eye surgery.
Gaethje underwent a photorefractive keratectomy in 2016 to correct his eyesight. He said, “I used to be blind. I had horrible vision. I was 20/60 in one eye and 20/200 in another eye.”