It feels as though Charles
Oliveira has been around forever in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship.
He debuted with the Las Vegas-based organization in 2010 and
experienced an up-and-down tenure as a featherweight in which he
flashed dynamic finishing ability but did not appear to be a
serious contender. The narrative began to shift following his
transition to 155 pounds in 2017, and that culminated in a
title-clinching victory over Michael
Chandler in the
UFC 262 headliner at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday
night.
It only took 28 Octagon appearances, a nine-bout winning streak and
one of the sport’s best ever to vacate the lightweight throne for
Oliveira to finally reach the summit.
“When I got into the UFC, a lot of people said I was crazy and I
said I wanted to be the best in the world and I wanted to break
records,” Oliveira said. “Now I’m the biggest finisher, I’m the
second in post-fight bonuses, I’m making history today becoming the
lightweight champion.
“I’m the second Brazilian, I think, to get this belt. I’m making
history right now. Before I left home, my daughter asked me to
bring back the belt. I promised this to her and to a lot of people
and I’m keeping it. I want to thank everybody who believed in me.
Now I get to go back home and keep training.”
In hindsight, Oliveira is appreciative of the long journey that got
him to this point. That included a few moments of adversity against
Chandler. “Do Bronx” appeared to be rocked twice in the opening
round, and he also endured a tight guillotine from his opponent in
the bout’s first five minutes. After Oliveira survived his
opponent’s initial onslaught, he floored Chandler with a left hook
at the beginning of Round 2 and swarmed for the finish that arrived
19 seconds into the period.
“It had to be hard. It couldn’t be easy,” Oliveira said. “I talked
a lot about the fight with Tony
Ferguson. I asked for the opportunity to face a Top 5
[opponent] and I got it on five days’ notice. You saw what I did to
him and he’s a monster, he deserves all the respect in the world.
We talked this week and I have so much respect for him.
“Now Michael Chandler, another tough guy, so it had to be hard, it
couldn’t be easy,” he continued. “He got me in that guillotine, it
was well adjusted and I just said, ‘I’m going to pass out, but I’m
not going to tap”. And he let go. I got his back, I wanted to hold
for a little bit, he has a tough pace, he punished me a lot, but
even so, I was still standing. When I sat down in between rounds,
my coaches told me to breathe, keep going and be calm. I came back,
I knew my hand was also heavy. When it hit him, he would feel it
too.”
At long last, Oliveira can finally call himself a UFC champion.
Through a career full of ups and downs, his sense of self-belief
has always remained strong.
“I never doubted my day would come,” he said. “I thought it was
already my time in the past, but it’s not in our time, it’s in
God’s time. When I learned that, God showed me. I never thought
about giving up, I always believed in it. I got into the UFC to be
the champion and my time would eventually come. It’s here now.”