Charles Oliveira proved he’s still got plenty of fight left in him after bullying Mateusz Gamrot before scoring a second round submission win in the UFC Rio main event.
With a very raucous crowd on his side the former UFC lightweight champion proved he wasn’t coming back too soon after a knockout loss to Ilia Topuria in his previous outing as Oliveira came after Gamrot from the first second until the last. Following a dominant opening round, Oliveira eventually took the fight to the canvas in the second where he wrapped up a nasty rear-naked choke that looked more like a face crank and it forced Gamrot to tap out.
The end came at 2:48 in the second round.
“I’m trying to hold back the tears right now,” Oliveira said after welcoming his family into the octagon with him. “This is all for you guys. This is not about money, fame, status or anything. Screw it, this is Brazil!.”
Oliveira put on another classic performance as he simply overwhelmed Gamrot, who just had no answer during any facet of the fight .
Some early striking success from Oliveira led to a takedown from Gamrot as the lightweights jockeyed for position on the canvas. Oliveira was very active from the bottom, attacking with the omo plata and it forced Gamrot to react so he could stay out of any potential trouble.
A scramble to break free led to Oliveira taking the back where he first peppered away with some punches before moving to look for a rear-naked choke. Gamrot defended and eventually stood up but he eventually sat down again rather than risk his legs getting tired holding up Oliveira’s entire body weight.
After a tough start, Gamrot committed more to his striking and he actually had a little bit of success but Oliveira was also firing right back at him. That led to Oliveira getting the fight to the floor but this time he aggressively took the back and started working towards a submission.
Oliveira finally got his arms wrapped around Gamrot’s head to lock on the choke and as the vice-like grip tightened, the former KSW didn’t have much of a choice but to tap out. It was a stunning performance from Oliveira, who was very loudly embraced by the Brazilian crowd after his latest win.
After asking the UFC specifically to put him on this card so he could fight at home, Oliveira made the most of the opportunity and then called his shot for another title fight but this time with a different championship on the line.
“Hey Hunter [Campbell],” Oliveira shouted to the UFC chief business officer sitting cageside. “Charles Oliveria and Max Holloway, ‘BMF’ let’s make that happen.”
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