Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira of Brazil bounced back in a big way with a rear-naked choke submission win over Mateusz Gamrot at 2:48 of Round 2 on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro in the main event of UFC Fight Night.
Oliveira (36-11 MMA) was emotional during his post-fight interview, improving his hometown record to 7-0 after having accomplished a plethora of achievements, including the most submissions (17) and most bonuses (20) in UFC history.
Oliveira, who lost to current lightweight champion Ilia Topuria via knockout on June 28, wants big fights moving forward, requesting UFC “BMF” champion Max Holloway (27-8) as a possible future opponent.
“Let’s make that happen,” Oliveira said through an interpreter while eying UFC CBO Hunter Campbell.
Gamrot (25-4) of Poland is 1-2 in his last three UFC appearances, accepting the fight on short notice after Rafael Fiziev (13-4) withdrew due to injury.
The co-main event saw former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo of Brazil find his footing at bantamweight with a split-decision win over Montel Jackson (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Figueiredo (25-5-1) halted the six-fight winning streak of Jackson (15-3), which included back-to-back KO wins against Rani Yahya (28-12-1) and Da’Mon Blackshear (17-8-1).
Following the fight, Figueiredo eyed big goals. These include becoming a two-division champion before retiring from MMA, as the 37-year-old has been in the UFC since 2017.
“I want to fight (reigning UFC bantamweight champion) Merab (Dvalishvili), but know I have to work very hard to get there,” Figueiredo said.
Welterweight Joel Alvarez of Spain extended his winning streak to four with a dominant unanimous-decision win — 30-26, 30-26, 30-26 — over longtime UFC veteran Vicente Luque of Brazil. Alvarez (23-3) nearly finished Luque (23-12-1) before Luque was saved by the bell. Alvarez improved to 8-2 in the promotion since 2019, while Luque has suffered back-to-back losses and hasn’t strung together a pair of wins in more than four years.
In heavyweight action, Mario Pinto of Portugal avoided needing a third round by securing a second-round TKO over the durable Jhonata Diniz with strikes from the mount position. Pinto (11-0) has eight wins by stoppage, including seven by KO/TKO. Brazil’s Diniz (9-2) has lost two of his previous three fights.
The UFC’s return to Brazil saw the main card start with featherweight Kaan Ofli of Australia making short work of Ricardo Ramos with a first-round TKO. Ofli (12-4-1) had been seeking his first promotional win after a stint on “The Ultimate Fighter.” Meanwhile, Brazil’s Ramos (17-8) has dropped four of his last five fights and is 8-7 since joining the UFC in 2017.
–Field Level Media
