LAS VEGAS — When Charles Oliveira was knocked out by a right hand from Ilia Topuria at UFC 317 last June, it was widely believed that the MMA world was witnessing one of the biggest stars of a generation effectively knocked out. After all, he is almost 35 years old and has just lost his third game in five games.
Less than a year later, you almost have to laugh at the fact that we could have left Oliveira out. With the token BMF title on the line against Max Holloway at UFC 326 on Saturday, the 36-year-old put in a dominant performance in a grappling fight that was somewhat at odds with the belt’s stand-and-bang ethos, but was nonetheless frustrating.
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Holloway’s odds at the end of Saturday’s fight were -225, which seemed like a fair price at the time given the usual nature of BMF title fights and Holloway’s self-proclaimed status as the UFC’s best fighter. While Dana White admitted that even he was surprised by Oliveira’s performance in the match, he made it clear that winning was far more important than maintaining the sanctity of the gimmick championship belt.
“I don’t know if anyone was expecting this,” White said. “I didn’t. I mean, he locked him up so easily, took him down, and absolutely dominated him on the ground. I think there’s going to be more stand-up, and I think Marquez is going to be better at defending takedowns… The ultimate goal in every fight is to win. (Oliveira) did exactly what he needed to do to win.”
Not only did Oliveira dominate the fight for 20 minutes and 49 seconds (80 percent of the fight), but he also landed 50 of 66 significant strikes, putting Holloway in dangerous situations early in the fight. Oliveira even attempted four submissions, all of which would have finished a weaker opponent. The plan was simple and executed perfectly.
“I want to do what I do best,” Oliveira said. “As the Brazilians say, it does no good for people.”
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mutual respect
Aside from Oliveira and Holloway finally getting the better of their 2015 fight, which ended after Oliveira suffered an unfortunate first-round injury, Saturday’s fight was special for UFC diehards because it pitted two of the most popular fighters against each other before one or both of them were no longer competing in the sport. While Oliveira dominated this fight to the point of verging on boredom, the silver lining is that their widely overlapping fan bases won’t have to see either fighter face down on the canvas.
The respect the two have for each other was evident as Oliveira was officially crowned the fourth BMF champion in UFC history. Oliveira waxed poetic about his opponents in his post-fight interview, admitting they were the last of a dying breed in the sport.
“Honestly, man, I have a lot of respect for you,” Oliveira told Holloway. “We’re different than everyone else. My greatest pride is representing my family like you guys do. These guys come out here and talk a lot of crap, and we come out here and do some nice things for our families. If there are two BMFs in this division, those BMFs are Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway.”