Following his devastating loss to lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria at UFC 317 in June, Brazil’s Charles Oliveira looked to bounce back against Poland’s Mateusz Gamrot in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Rio De Janeiro in October.
Coming into the fight, Charles Oliveira had an impressive overall record of 35-11 with a 2-3 record over his last five bouts, the roughest stretch of his 18-year career. Whereas Mateusz Gamrot has been on the rise with a 4-1 record over his last five bouts, with statement wins over the likes of Rafael Faziev and L’udovit Klein, extending his record to 25-3.
Many fans wondered if we were witnessing the end of Oliveira’s career leading up to this fight after he was brutally knocked out by Ilia Topuria in the first round and went the distance with Michael Chandler, who many thought he should have easily finished.
With Gamrot on the rise as the No. 8 ranked lightweight in the world, he looked to upset the No. 4 ranked Oliveira in front of his hometown crowd in Brazil. Gamrot made no hesitation in showing his hunger to win as he immediately sprinted toward the octagon during his walkout — but little did he know he was running straight into fire.
Charles Oliveira has remained flawless with a 17-0 record when fighting in his home country of Brazil and looked to extend that on Saturday night after many people began to doubt the future of his MMA career.
As the fight started, the two exchanged back-and-forth shots which had the crowd going wild. After the first round it looked like Olivera was up 1-0. Round two started off similarly until Charles was able to successfully land a takedown on Gamrot, where he would now be in Charles world.
Oliveira locked in a perfect rear-naked choke where there would be no escape. Gamrot struggled until he couldn’t anymore and tapped out halfway through round two. With that finish, it became Charles 22nd submission win in his career, the most in UFC History.
The crowd exploded as Charles Oliveira extended his win streak to 18-0 in Brazil, and he immediately jumped over the cage and ran into the crowd to celebrate with all his supporters. When he arrived back in the octagon, Charles took the microphone and made no hesitation to express his feelings by calling out a future opponent.
Michael Bisping asked him “What does this mean to you?” Charles Oliveira responded “I’m trying to hold back the tears right now. This is all for you guys, this is not about money, fame, status, or anything. Screw it, this is Brazil.”
When Charles was asked who he wants to fight next, he states “Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, BMF, let’s make it happen.”
This would be a Fight of the Year candidate if UFC President Dana White agrees to schedule this matchup sometime next year. There is no better way to please UFC fans than to have two of the biggest names in the sport going head-to-head for the BMF Title belt.
Could we potentially see this booked for the White House card next year? As of now, Max Holloway is still recovering from an Injury, so we will have to wait and see how this develops.
As for Mateusz Gamrot, it looks like he still has a long way to go before he gets a title shot.