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It was an emotional roller coaster of a weekend for Charles Oliveira.

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“Do Bronx” lost his lightweight title on the scales one day prior to UFC 274 when he missed weight by 0.5 pounds, but he assured himself of an opportunity to regain that belt when he submitted Justin Gaethje in the opening round of their headlining bout on Saturday at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz.

"The most difficult part was listening to my father cry when I called him right after the UFC stated that I lost my belt,” Oliveira told Combate. “That was definitely the hardest moment. As I’ve always done since I came down to lightweight, I reached 155 [pounds] on Thursday night. But that´s over.

“What I came to do I did. I took [two] knock downs, stood up, knocked him down and submitted him. How long will they say I'm a quitter? This time it was the scale. What will they will do next time? Tie me up?”

The former champion also discussed his post-fight callout of …

Following a spectacular front kick finish of Tony Ferguson that UFC president Dana White later called “the most vicious knockout I’ve ever seen,” Michael Chandler admitted that the maneuver is little more than an afterthought in his offensive repertoire.

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“I don’t even know if I saw it in the moment,” Chandler said at the UFC 274 post-fight press conference. “I think my body just moved and foot [landed] to face and a couple back flips [after]…Sometimes I think the fights materialize exactly how you want them to. Sometimes you stay within your normal box of what you always use and it works, sometimes it doesn’t work. And sometimes you throw something that you never, ever thought you would ever land, let alone knock someone out with.”

Chandler is well-known for knockout power in his hands, but there’s a decent chance his front kick KO — one of nine such finishes in promotion history — will end up on more than a few year-end award lists.

“It’s not …

As conservative as it might have been, Carla Esparza stuck to her game plan at UFC 274 — and the end result was a championship victory.

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Esparza emerged from an action-starved bout with a split-decision triumph over “Thug” Rose to claim strawweight gold at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Saturday night. It was a perplexing performance from both athletes, as neither was willing to engage for the majority of the contest, which predictably brought out the boo birds throughout the 25-minute affair. For Esparza, pressing the action too recklessly would have only set her up for defeat.

“I felt that I fought a smart game plan,” Esparza said at the UFC 274 post-fight press conference. “I felt that if I would have gotten too wild and too reckless, I would have set myself up to be a highlight reel. Rose has incredible timing and placement on her strikes. She’s had some awesome head-kick finishes and dropped people, so I didn’t feel like it was a s…

As conservative as it might have been, Carla Esparza stuck to her game plan at UFC 274 — and the end result was a championship victory.

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Esparza emerged from an action-starved bout with a split-decision triumph over “Thug” Rose to claim strawweight gold at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Saturday night. It was a perplexing performance from both athletes, as neither was willing to engage for the majority of the contest, which predictably brought out the boo birds throughout the 25-minute affair. For Esparza, pressing the action too recklessly would have only set her up for defeat.

“I felt that I fought a smart game plan,” Esparza said at the UFC 274 post-fight press conference. “I felt that if I would have gotten too wild and too reckless, I would have set myself up to be a highlight reel. Rose has incredible timing and placement on her strikes. She’s had some awesome head-kick finishes and dropped people, so I didn’t feel like it was a s…

Donald Cerrone was supposed to help kick off the UFC 274 pay-per-view with a fan-friendly matchup against fellow action fighter Joe Lauzon.

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Instead, a last-minute illness, which was attributed to food poisoning, forced “Cowboy” to withdraw from the event just hours before he was scheduled to compete. It was a devastating blow for Cerrone, who has typically been on of the promotion’s most active fighters and was looking forward to fighting in front of his son. Cerrone commented on the situation via Instagram on Sunday.

“My heart is broken and torn,” Cerrone said. “I can’t believe I had to make that call. If you know me, you know I only pulled out because I had to. Thank you for the UFC and the medical division for helping me as far as we could, try and make that buzzer, but we just couldn’t get it.”

The 39-year-old Cerrone is in the midst of a six-bout winless streak in UFC competition, and the finish line is in sight for the BMF Ranch foun…

Charles Oliveira didn’t carry himself like someone who was stripped of the lightweight title following his first-round submission of Justin Gaethje in the UFC 274 main event.

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“I went into the Octagon to defend the title,” Oliveira said through a translator at the UFC 274 post-fight press conference. “I don’t have to get it back. The champion is Charles Oliveira, and we all know that.”

Oliveira was undeniably impressive as he survived some heavy artillery from Gaethje early, then recovered to floor him with a right hand before submitting him with a rear-naked choke 3:22 into Round 1 of their bout at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Saturday night. Oliveira has won 11 consecutive fights in UFC competition and assured himself a spot in a fight for the now-vacant 155-pound belt in the future.

“He’s the guy,” UFC president Dana White said. “He didn’t make weight. We have rules, he didn’t make the weight, the belt is vacant. But I’m sure in th…

A featherweight showdown between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez has been targeted for the main event of a UFC card on July 16.

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ESPN Deportes was first to report that both fighters have verbally agreed to the pairing. A location for the event has not been determined.

The 31-year-old Ortega is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski in a 145-pound title bout at UFC 266 last September. “T-City” is 0-2 in championship fights, with a fourth-round stoppage loss to Max Holloway in December 2018 on his resume. Ortega is 15-2 as professional with notable wins over the likes of Chan Sung Jung, Frankie Edgar, Cub Swanson, Renato Carneiro and Clay Guida.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, last appeared at UFC Fight Night 197 this past November, when he dropped a five-round verdict against Holloway in his first bout since October 2019. The Mexican featherweight is 8-2 with one no contest in the Las Vegas-based promotion and owns notable triumph…

A long-rumored middleweight championship clash between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier has an official date and location.

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The promotion announced on Saturday that the fight will serve as the headliner for UFC 276 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 2. The card will also include a featherweight championship trilogy between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in the co-main event.

Adesanya will attempt to make his second successful title defense of 2022 after besting Robert Whittaker in a rematch in the UFC 271 headliner on Feb. 12. “The Last Stylebender” is 11-0 in UFC competition as a middleweight — including four successful championship defenses. His lone career defeat came in a move to 205 pounds, when he lost a decision to Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight title bout at UFC 259.

Cannonier enters the matchup with victories in five of his last six Octagon appearances. He rebounded from a decision loss to Whittaker at UFC 25…

Former two-division champion Daniel Cormier will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame’s “Modern Wing” in a ceremony later this year.

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The promotion announced Cormier’s induction during the UFC 274 broadcast on Saturday night. The ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as part of the UFC’s International Fight Week festivities.

“Daniel Cormier is one of the most badass competitors of all time,” said UFC president Dana White. “‘DC’ faced the greatest athletes in the world on every level of wrestling and MMA. He is also the ultimate professional. As an active fighter, he always took time for the media, which led him to become one of the best TV analysts in all of sports. ‘DC’ is one of the greatest ambassadors UFC has ever had, and it’s going to be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.”

Cormier is one of only four athletes in UFC history to be a simultaneous two-division champion. “…

Michael Chandler padded his bank account on Saturday night with a knockout that ranks among the year’s best.

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The former Bellator champion received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus after rendering Tony Ferguson unconscious with a spectacular front kick to the chin in their featured lightweight bout at UFC 274. After a competitive opening stanza, Chandler’s move abruptly halted the contest 17 seconds into Round 2, sending Ferguson face first into the canvas. It’s just one of nine front kick knockouts in promotion history.

Elsewhere, Brandon Royval and Matt Schnell garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for a spirited flyweight scrap on the preliminary card. Schnell dropped Royval during an initial exchange, but after a series of scrambles, Royval jumped on a guillotine choke and elicited a tapout 2:14 into the opening round.

Finally, Andre Fialho pocketed the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check t…

Charles Oliveira certainly didn’t fight like a man who had no chance of winning a belt.

Oliviera (33-8, 21-8 UFC) won his 11th consecutive bout in the UFC 274 headliner, submitting Justin Gaethje (23-4, 6-4 UFC) with a rear-naked choke 3:22 into the first round of their lightweight clash at the Footprint Arena in Phoenix, Ariz., on Saturday night. Because Oliveira missed weight by 0.5 pounds, the Ultimate Fighting Championship 155-pound title will remain vacant. However, “Do Bronx” is assured a spot in the next championship bout by virtue of his victory.

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Oliveira, who now ranks fifth in promotion history wjtb 21 career victories, was defiant in the aftermath of his latest effort.

“This is a message to the entire division,” he said. “I’m a problem for the entire division …. I’m the champion. This is my title. It should be here.”

The best LW in the world 🌎

[ @CharlesDoBronxs| #UFC274 ] pic.twitter.com/dwEB7NaZ0E Read more

Sherdog's live UFC 274 “Oliveira vs. Gaethje” coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the MMA Forums to discuss the card or enter your comments and predictions below.

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