UFC full fight video: Charles Oliveira rallies to stop Michael Chandler and become lightweight champion
Watch the moment Charles Oliveira finally became a champion, beating Michael Chandler with an incredible comeback at UFC 262 to win the vacant lightweight title.
When Khabib Nurmagomedov retired unexpectedly following his title defense over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, the UFC was left in a pickle. Not only was the lightweight champion the best fighter in the world, he was also one of the promotion’s biggest stars, and so for months, UFC president Dana White tried to convince Nurmagomedov to change his mind. When that plan failed, the promotion instead looked to a newcomer and one of its most veteran fighters to pick up the slack.
Charles Oliveira had been with the UFC since 2010 and had made a name for himself as a dynamic grappler. At the time, “Do Bronx” was on an eight-fight winning streak, with seven of those coming by stoppage. Arguably the most dangerous offensive force at lightweight, he was set to face former three-time Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler, who had made his promotional debut earlier that year, delivering a scintillating first-round knockout of Dan Hooker. So when Oliveira and Chandler were matched up for the vacant lightweight title, fans expected fireworks — and that’s just what they got.
Surviving an early scare when Oliveira took his back, Chandler spent the back half of the first round clubbing “Do Bronx” around the octagon with big right hands and nasty ground-and-pound. Oliveira was able to survive to the second round, where he immediately flipped the tables, flooring Chandler with a left hook just seconds into the action, and then pouring on damage until the finish.
After claiming the lightweight title, Oliveira went on to successfully defend the belt against Dustin Poirier, before failing to make weight against Gaethje, and getting stripped of the title as a result. Oliveira won his fight with Gaethje and then met Islam Makhachev, again for the vacant title, only this time things did not go his way, as Makhachev submitted him in the second round at UFC 280.
Oliveira now hopes to rebound from that loss and earn another title shot by beating surging contender Beneil Dariush when the two face off in the co-main event of UFC 289 on June 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.