Charles Oliveira chokes out Mateusz Gamrot in UFC Fight Night main event in Rio
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RIO DE JANEIRO – Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Charles Oliveira bounced back with a second-round rear-naked-choke submission win over Mateusz Gamrot on Oct 11 in Rio de Janeiro in the main event of UFC Fight Night 261.
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 (21) 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,” he said through an interpreter, while eyeing UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell.
Poland’s Gamrot (25-4) 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 in Brazil saw former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo 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 bout, he 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 extended his winning streak to four with a dominant unanimous-decision win – 30-26, 30-26, 30-26 – over long-time UFC veteran Vicente Luque.
Alvarez (23-3) nearly finished Luque (23-12-1) before the Brazilian was saved by the bell. The Spaniard improved to 8-2 in the promotion since 2019, while Luque has suffered back-to-back losses and has not strung together a pair of wins in more than four years.
In heavyweight action, Mario Pinto avoided needing a third round by securing a second-round technical knockout over the durable Jhonata Diniz with strikes from the mount position.
Pinto (11-0) has eight wins by stoppage, including seven by KO/TKO. Dintz (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 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 reality series The Ultimate Fighter. Meanwhile, Ramos (17-8) has dropped four of his last five fights and is 8-7 since joining the UFC in 2017. REUTERS
