Charles Oliveira stole the show Saturday, atop UFC Fight Night 261.
Being the center of attention is nothing new for Oliveira (36-11 MMA, 24-11 UFC), but this moment was a little different. Not only did he dominated Mateusz Gamrot (25-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) en route to a second-round rear-naked choke submission, he did it in front of his home country crowd in Rio de Janeiro.
“Today was different,” Oliveira said, through a Portuguese-language interpreter on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “I don’t think I’ll forget it. I don’t think anyone will forget this one, given tonight. Tonight is different.”
Oliveira, 35, was initially scheduled to face Rafael Fiziev, who withdrew due to injury. In stepped Gamrot, but Oliveira predicted the Pole’s game plan seemingly to a tee. He knew what was coming.
“We knew it,” Oliveira said. “We knew he was going to try to do that. We said it before. But we knew the first round, he was going to be strong. So I’m the guy with the most submissions in the UFC. If it comes to jiu-jitsu, I’m the guy with the record. We just took the first round, and went for the second.”
“… To be honest, the first round we knew was his strongest round. My coach was saying to, ‘Do this, do that. Elbows, throw this.’ But I just wanted to smother his game. Smother his game, get ready for the second round, and then be ready and collected and go for the kill in the second round.”
In true veteran fashion, Oliveira had a callout ready for his in cage interview. He wants the “BMF” champion. He wants Max Holloway (27-8 MMA, 23-8 UFC).
“Max is a guy who I have total respect for,” Oliveira said. “It would be something amazing. Why not?”
