Not only did they keep the wrestlers away from him, they kept Charles Oliveira away as well. Conor also only had to fight only 2x a year in 2013 and 14 to get that Siver fight to setup his title shot. Max was a 3-2 UFC fighter when they booked him vs Conor and he had just fought and lost ten weeks prior to fighting Conor. Its not like it was prime Max they fed him to. Brimage, Brandao, and Siver were all selected as opponents because they were short fighters without great wrestling and Conor would have a nice reach advantage in all those fights to utilize his boxing.
By the time Conor arrived in the UFC, Oliveira (who is a year younger than Conor) was 24 years old but had already fought Elkins, Miller, Lentz, Cowboy, Cub, Frankie etc… some at LW and some at FW. He went 3-1 in the UFC FW division in 2013 and 14 (Conor’s first two years) and beat Ogle, Hioki and Stephens and only lost to Frankie in a FOTN performance and was calling out Conor but they had Conor avoid him as well. By the time Conor got the Siver fight, Charles was a 5-2 at FW in the UFC with 4 subs and often winning POTN/SOTN/FOTN awards and had only lost to Frankie and Cub at that weight.
