Charles Oliveira scored his five UFC wins via submission, and it’s time to show his hands now.
Coming off a third-round victory over Andy Ogle at UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil, “do Bronx” returns to the Octagon in a featherweight contest against Hatsu Hioki at the UFN show in Auckland, New Zealand, on June 28.
It won’t be easy, though, since Hioki has never been finished in 36 professional fights, going the distance with the likes of Ricardo Lamas, Clay Guida and Marlon Sandro.
“I always want to submit my opponents, but I’m training a lot my stand up game,” Oliveira told MMAFighting.com. “(Hioki) kicks a lot and is really tough, he has done some great fights in the UFC. I will to my best standing. I will force him to make a mistake so I can submit him, but if he gives me openings I will believe in my hand.”
Back to the win column following consecutive losses to Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson, Oliveira hasn’t won a fight by knockout since 2010, his last bout before signing with the UFC.
“If I put my hands on him, he’s going down,” he said. “I’m sure that I will put my hand on him and he will go down.”
Oliveira hopes to feature among the top fighters at the 145-pound division and earn a chance to avenge recent losses to Edgar and Swanson.
“Especially with Cub. I’m sure I can beat him if I’m at my best,” he said. “I got injured a few minutes before the fight. I deserve an opportunity to fight him again. I also want to fight Frankie. One day we’ll meet again and the result will be different. I was too afraid to make mistakes. I think I could have won against Frankie. My coaches told me to do one thing and I did other.
“At my last fight, I wanted to knock (Ogle) out, and they kept telling me to take him down because he was not on my level. When I took him down and dominated him for a round, I knew I was going to win. I did what my coaches wanted, but I was confident that I could beat him standing.”