A late snag has officially shaken up the lightweight main event for UFC Rio.
Following the withdrawal of veteran contender Rafael Fiziev due to injury, former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and the promotion announced Tuesday that fellow top-10 contender Mateusz Gamrot (25-3, 1 NC) is set to step in as short-notice replacement for the Oct. 11 clash in Brazil.
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Oliveira (35-11, 1 NC) spoke on the news Tuesday on social media:
“This is the guy we’re going to battle in a great war. The rest [of the UFC lightweights] just wanted the hype, just wanted to stall and talk, but that’s part of it, that’s how it is.
“Mateusz Gamrot, thank you for accepting the fight. It’s going to be a big war! The lion is hungry. I’m full of willpower. We’ll meet on Oct. 11.”
Gamrot, 34, has consistently expressed his willingness to take short-notice bouts in an effort to reemerge as a major player in the lightweight division after a hard-fought split decision loss to Dan Hooker in August 2024.
A former KSW featherweight and lightweight champion, Gamrot rebounded from that setback with a unanimous decision win over L’udovit Klein this past May.
As for Oliveira, the former UFC lightweight champion returns to his home country in pursuit of climbing back into the win column and keeping his 17-fight undefeated streak in Brazil alive.
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“Do Bronx” most recently suffered a vicious first-round knockout loss at the hands of Ilia Topuria at UFC 317’s battle for the vacant lightweight title in June.
The full 13-fight UFC Rio card can be seen below.
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Charles Oliveira vs. Mateusz Gamrot
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Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Montel Jackson
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Gabriel Bonfim vs. Randy Brown
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Jhonata Diniz vs. Mário Pinto
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Valter Walker vs. Mohammed Usman
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Jafel Filho vs. Clayton Carpenter
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Lucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell
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Vitor Petrino vs. Thomas Petersen
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Ricardo Ramos vs. Kaan Ofli
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Lucas Rocha vs. Stewart Nicoll
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Julia Polastri vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
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Beatriz Mesquita vs. Irina Alekseeva
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Vicente Luque vs. Joel Álvarez
