The last time Charles Oliveira fought in front of his home fans, he still was climbing the lightweight rankings into contender status.
This time, Saturday, it’ll be as a headliner – and former champion. Oliveira used an eight-fight winning streak a few years back to get a vacant lightweight title shot against Michael Chandler, and he blasted him out of there in the second round.
In a bit of MMA infamy, Oliveira had to give up the lightweight belt when he missed weight against Justin Gaethje in mid-2022. He fought Islam Makhachev to try to win it back, but came up well short. And in June, after another win over Chandler, he had a shot at the vacant belt again – but lost to Ilia Topuria.
Still, Oliveira (35-11 MMA, 23-11 UFC) remains one of the UFC’s most feared fighters, not just for his expert-level ground game, but in the standup. Saturday, he headlines the UFC’s return to Brazil – his first trip back for a fight since he tapped Kevin Lee on the final pre-pandemic card.
Saturday, Oliveira (35-11 MMA, 23-11 UFC) takes on Mateusz Gamrot (25-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC), who stepped in to save Oliveira’s spot in Rio de Janeiro when Rafael Fiziev dropped out. The pair headline UFC Fight Night 261 (ESPN+) at Farmasi Arena.
Ahead of that fight, check out Oliveira’s stellar return to the win column after his loss to Makhachev, when he extended his UFC record for most stoppage wins (20) and won his record 13th Performance of the Night bonus. In the UFC 289 co-main event in Vancouver in 2023, Oliveira had seldom looked better. Check out the full fight above.
