Mateusz Gamrot lobbied hard for the matchup, and now he has been granted his wish to step in against Charles Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 261.
After Rafael Fiziev suffered an injury that forced him out of the lightweight headliner on Oct. 11 at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Gamrot (25-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) was one of the names who pushed to get in as the replacement opponent.
Oliveira (35-11 MMA, 23-11 UFC) initially admitted resistance toward Gamrot as the new opponent due to the style change, but ultimately agreed to it and announced the new five-round main event on Tuesday (via X):
Oliveira, 36, will compete in Brazil for the first time since March 2020. The promotion’s all-time leader in finishes, submissions and bonuses is 3-3 in his past six fights, and will be forced to prove he is still worthy of his No. 4 spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie lightweight rankings.
No. 11-ranked Gamrot will be coming for his spot, however, off the strength of four wins in his past five fights and a victory over Ludovit Klein at UFC on ESPN 68 in May.
The latest UFC Fight Night 261 lineup includes:
- Charles Oliveira vs. Mateusz Gamrot
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Montel Jackson
- Jhonata Diniz vs. Mario Pinto
- Joel Alvarez vs. Vicente Luque
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Randy Brown
- Clayton Carpenter vs. Jafel Filho
- Thomas Petersen vs. Vitor Petrino
- Stewart Nicoll vs. Lucas Rocha
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Julia Polastri
- Mohammed Usman vs. Valter Walker
- Kaan Ofli vs. Ricardo Ramos
- Lucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell
- Stephanie Luciano vs. Ravena Oliveira
- HyunSung Park vs. Bruno Silva
- Danny Barlow vs. Djorden Santos
- Irina Alekseeva vs. Bia Mesquita
