UFC Pound-for-Pound Fighter Rankings Charles Oliveira enters the fray with title win and another finish
'Du Bronx' showed tremendous mental development and strength to survive Michael Chandler's early onslaught at UFC 262
If Khabib Nurmagomedov's early returns to the post-lightweight era taught us anything, the 155-pound future inside the Octagon should be nothing short of wild.
After Nurmagomedov's retirement and Dustin Poirier's decision to extend his rivalry with Connor McGregor to a third fight, Seas completely split for Charles Oliveira last Saturday, defeating Michael Chandler in his vacant title match at UFC 262 Extended the streak to nine.
Not that the result is a huge surprise for Oliveira (31-8, 1 NC), especially given that he is the UFC record holder for the most finishes and submission wins. Yet the battle proved to be violent theater from beginning to end with many swings of momentum and it served as a huge recognition for how elite the Brazilians have become in the four years since their return to the Division.
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Oliveira ended his featherweight run with three defeats in his final four encounters, yet was steadily increased by the experience of regularly facing top names. But ever since Paul Felder suffered a TKO defeat in 2017, he has been out of lights.
The current nine-fight win streak for Oliveira includes eight wins by stoppages, including five via submission. And throughout the journey, which included major wins over Kevin Lee and Tony Ferguson to win the title, Oliveira noticed that confidence began to grow every time he stepped into the classroom.
The improvement in Oliveira's striking game, which he used to stop Chandler in Round 2, has certainly been a very big story of how the lofty "Do Bronx" has long been theatrical, ending a fight any time Has been from the point of view of being able to. With its submission game. But at the same time it is difficult to reiterate the importance of his mental development.
Oliveira not only escaped one of Chandler's early guillotines, which was deep, he was overcome by an early bout of punches that impressed him and gave the impression that he was close to ending. Being able to work so swiftly amidst the chaos by adjusting without panic is an elite abstraction not often mentioned as being so integral to a fighter with a championship pedigree and Oliveira proving that he has spades .
Now the question becomes whether Oliveira can retain his title and turn such an important victory into Raj. He should hope that it will not be easy from here, given the current killers (Poirier, Justin Gethje, Rafael dos Anjos) and a new group of starving people (Benil Darish, Islam Makhachev).
But for now, Oliveira deserves recognition as one of the best people in the game, given how prolific he has become when he stands in front of him.