Charles Oliviera became the new UFC lightweight champion at UFC 262 when he finished Michael Chandler in round two. Oliviera extended his winning streak to nine and recorded his 17th UFC finish. He becomes the second-ever Brazillian lightweight champion and hands Chandler his sixth career loss.
The Fight Itself
The fight itself was a barnburner for as long as it lasted. Having touched gloves, the two got straight to the action, with Charles Oliviera dropping Michael Chandler with a heavy leg kick in the first four seconds. Chandler popped straight back up and got to work. Attempting to get inside of Oliviera’s range, Chandler landed a number of straights to the body.
Chandler swung widely with multiple hooks in an attempt to swarm and catch Oliviera. Having caught the Brazillian with two left hooks, Oliviera shot for a deep double leg and was able to secure the takedown. It was bad news, however, as Chandler was able to grab onto Oliviera’s neck and in typical Joe Rogan fashion, ‘It’s real tight, he might have it’. Oliviera was able to slip out of it and ended up on top, where he wanted to be.
In typical wrestler technique, Chandler went to his knees in an attempt to get up, exposing his back to one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in the UFC. With both hooks in, Chandler stood up and slammed Oliviera to the mat. Although it looked impressive, it didn’t do him any favors, putting him deeper into Oliviera’s triangle. With impressive hand-fighting, Chandler exploded and was able to power out of the body triangle of Charles Oliviera, getting back to his feet and landing heavy ground and pound on the Brazillian.
Almost Finished
A heavy left hook and right behind the ear seemingly dropped Oliviera, who shot in for a desperation shot on Chandler. How close it was to being stopped we’ll never know, but Chandler was landing bombs on an almost flattened out Oliviera, who wasn’t intelligently defending himself. Regaining composure and falling to his back, Oliviera was able to defend a little more intelligently, however, Chandler still landed a lot of damage. Round one to the American… 10-8 on the scorecards.
#UFC262 Official Scorecard: Oliveira Vs. Chandler
See every scorecard here ➡️: https://t.co/RXYE7NVjHr pic.twitter.com/aAIqAsQeUh
— UFC News (@UFCNews) May 16, 2021
Charles Oliviera – The new UFC lightweight champion of the world
Having largely dominated Charles Oliviera in the first, seemingly being stronger wherever the fight ended up, Michael Chandler must have been entering the second round full of confidence. Was he overconfident? Starting the second round, Oliviera dropped to a +115 underdog.
Oliviera put the first five minutes behind him and started the second round strongly. In the first exchange, he was able to counter Chandler with a short, check left hook, dropping the American.
Knees, elbows, straights, and ultimately a left hook dropped Chandler for a second time and ground and pounded ended things. Charles Oliviera, the new UFC lightweight champion of the world.
Elsewhere on the Card
The co-main event saw Beneil Dariush dominate Tony Ferguson to hand him his third consecutive loss. Ferguson looked out-classed throughout the entire bout and Dariush used his heavy top pressure to never give Ferguson a minute’s rest. The Iranian native progressed to a seven-fight winning run and will likely see himself in the top five on Monday.
Katlyn Chookagian defeated Viviane Araujo by unanimous decision, turning up the heat as the fight went on. Her cardio paid dividends as Araujo faded. There was a little controversy as the commentary team stated that it appeared that Chookagian tapped when in a submission in the second round, however, it seemed like she was simply searching for her other hand to clasp it.
The fight of the night was determined before the card even kicked off and it certainly lived up to it. Edson Barboza and Shane Burgos delivered a banger. Leg kicks and boxing were on the menu and both of the first two rounds were extremely close. Barboza got his hand raised after a strange ending sequence. Barboza threw a one-two, landing on Burgos. Burgos seemed to eat it, but after a full four seconds delay, Burgos backed up, collapsed, and was seemingly out before Barboza landed the extra strikes. We’ve seen delayed reactions before but never anything this delayed. Very strange goings-on in the fight of the night.
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