He came onto the scene as a 20-year-old kid, spindly, raw, far from finished. The talent was there – that was obvious. A slick jiu-jitsu game, flashes of some promising pressure striking. But he had to learn on the job from the beginning, on the highest level possible, against the best fighters in the world.
He was thrown into the fire with no mercy. His third fight in the UFC was against Jim Miller. His fifth, against Donald Cerrone. Before he was out of his 20s, he was matched up against Cub Swanson, Frankie Edgar, Max Holloway, Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas and Paul Felder. He lost every one of those fights. He changed weight classes. And somewhere along the line, he acquired a reputation for choking, for fading, for not being mentally strong enough to overcome the biggest challenges.
And on Saturday night, in his first chance at a UFC championship, Charles Oliveira had to overcome just a little bit more adversity. Facing new UFC darling Michael Chandler – who had been rocketed to the doorstep of the world title after just one fight in the Octagon – Oliveira was dropped in the first round, and was moments away from being finished.
But this isn’t your older brother’s Do Bronx. The skinny boy from the favela has become a grizzled young vet, and there’s nothing more dangerous in the fight game than a grizzled young vet. Oliveira rode out the first round, and moments into the second, gave us a moment for the history books.
Oliveira’s title win finished off the run of a lifetime since moving up to 155 in 2017: nine victories in a row, eight by finish. He’s done it both with his heralded submission game – no one in UFC history has tapped out more opponents in the Octagon than Oliveira – and a striking game that has grown and improved before our eyes. Most importantly, Oliveira proved that the old knock on him doesn’t apply anymore. He is, in fact, strong enough to overcome adversity in a fight. Charles Oliveira will no longer break.
Most UFC champions follow a relatively linear path to the top: they come in as heralded prospects, roll through their opposition, proving at every turn to be special talents. Maybe they lose once or twice along the way, but those setbacks don’t tarry them for long. When they put the belt around their waists, it’s just a completion of a journey we always knew would likely end here.
That was never true for Charles Oliveira. He had to take the longest path to a UFC title of any fighter in the history of the company. No one’s had to wait longer to get their chance: Oliveira fought 27 times under the UFC banner before getting his first chance at a championship, breaking the record held by Michael Bisping. He lost eight times in the Octagon before winning his first title, and that’s a record too. But Oliveira’s exciting style and his talent, always evident, meant that he consistently got fights against some of the strongest opposition. He lost, learned, and grew. And once he finally hit his athletic peak, he had the hard-earned skill and experience that most fighters his age can only dream of.
Many won’t see Oliveira as a true champion. He only got an opportunity at the belt because Khabib Nurmagomedov retired undefeated, and more-hyped contenders like Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor were otherwise indisposed. None of that should matter. Charles Oliveira holds this championship, in the premier division of mixed martial arts’ premier organization, because he has developed an indomitable will. That is something you can never again take away from him. And after 11 years of futility, of ups downs and lessons learned, Charles Oliveira is finally The Man.
The Big Fight 