Vinicius
Oliveira authored a memorable comeback in his featherweight
debut at
UFC Fight Night 279.
After Andre Fili
hurt him with body kicks early in their bout this past Saturday,
“LokDog” rallied for a second-round technical knockout victory,
earning a $100,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus in the process.
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Vinicius Oliveira gets the finish
Featherweight Lokdog is nasty
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June 21, 2026
was working until I felt my foot when I kicked his shin. Then I
felt my ribs when he hit me with two kicks,” Oliveira told
Sherdog.com.
Oliveira revealed that his corner motivated him to persevere
through adversity.
“They were yelling, ‘Go forward, keep attacking, you’re tough.’ At
that moment, a movie played in my head,” Oliveira recalled. “In my
second-to-last fight, I had a loss, and since the UFC has been
firing fighters with winning records, I thought about my daughter
Maitê and everything I had been through in life, and there, I
decided I wasn’t going to lose. So, even in pain, breathless, I was
going to keep attacking,” explained the emotional Brazilian while
kissing his daughter in his lap.
“It’s something inexplicable. Only a father can understand.
Everything I do today is for her well-being, to bring her more
security and comfort. Today she is my greatest motivator, without
saying anything, just by existing.”
Ready for Lightweight
Oliveira revealed that his body reacted surprisingly well to the
new division.
“After those four fainting spells in the last fight, I really
couldn’t continue at bantamweight anymore. The curious thing is
that when I weighed [135 pounds] my body felt it a lot and in the
gaining process I fought at [170 pounds] on fight day. In this new
category, my weight went up less, I weighed [163 pounds] on fight
day,” revealed the Brazilian, who hopes to face a ranked opponent
in his second fight at featherweight.
“At bantamweight I was Top 12, I think I deserve at least a Top 12
at featherweight too.”
Despite being focused on reaching the belt in the new division,
Oliveira made it clear that he will have no problem fighting at
lightweight in emergency cases.
When Rafael
Fiziev was injured three weeks before the last UFC event in Rio
de Janeiro, “LokDog” offered to face Charles
Oliveira in the main event before Mateusz
Gamrot stepped in.
“For over 10 years I haven’t gone two days without training,” he
said. “I train from Monday to Saturday and sometimes even on
Sunday, but for the first time I’m going to give my body a week’s
rest. But if the UFC needs me, I’ll be available to fight in the
lightweight division, against anyone. The harder, the better.”
Targeting Silva
Asked about how he sees a confrontation with the current
featherweight champion, Alexander
Volkanovski, “LokDog” believes he won’t face the
Australian.
“Volk has already built his history and has nothing left to prove,”
Oliveira said. When I reach the top, I believe he won’t be the
champion anymore. I think he’ll beat Evloev, but I don’t see him
beating Jean Silva,
for example.”
Oliveira predicts that a matchup with the Fighting Nerds
representative would be a war.
“For this fight to happen and make sense, it would have to be for
the BMF featherweight belt … or if Jean had the featherweight belt
when my turn came,” Oliveira said. “Jean is a tough, aggressive guy
who talks a lot, just like me. There would be provocation from all
sides, provocation all the time. Inside the cage, the smartest one
would win, because we’re both willing to exchange punches until the
end.”
Explaining Beethoven
Unlike most fighters who seek faster and more motivating rhythms in
their Octagon entrances, the Brazilian always enters his fights
with „Für Elise“ by Beethoven.
„If I could, I would enter without any music, because my best
thoughts and skills come from nothing, which is where I came from,”
Oliveira said. “So the less noise there is, just the sound of my
heart and my breathing, the more motivated I become. The quieter,
the better. That’s one of the reasons I chose „Für Elise“ by
Beethoven.“
Oliveira doesn’t expect do be sidelined for too long before he is
ready to return to action.
“…I want to have the exams done on both feet and my knee tomorrow.
I went into this fight with a suspected meniscus injury, but it
shouldn’t be anything serious,” he said. “The fact is MMA fighters
have an expiration date. I’m 30 years old, I want to fight as much
as I can and achieve everything by the time I’m 35. First, I want
to finally get into the UFC game, I can’t wait to play with my
avatar, then I want to break all the UFC records, win the belt and
retire at 35 as the greatest of all time.”