UFC lightweight contender Charles Oliveira was a jiu-jitsu threat right from his amateur days.
Oliveira recently earned the biggest win of his career following a dominant unanimous decision victory over Tony Ferguson in the UFC 256 co-main event earlier this month.
He would have even likely finished the fight in the first round with an armbar if it wasn’t for the toughness and heart of Ferguson to battle through until the buzzer.
Regardless, the performance was a showcase of the grappling and submission threat of “Do Bronx” who is now firmly within title contention in the lightweight division.
And on Tuesday, the Brazilian shared footage of his amateur MMA debut in November 2007 where he quickly took his opponent to the mat before easily submitting him with an armbar.
You can watch it below:
Nov. 2007
My first [amateur] MMA competition.
Minha primeira luta [amadora] de MMA#MMA #ufcnocombate #espnplus @ufc @UFCBrasil @raphamarinho @BigMarcel24 @Grabaka_Hitman @alonsopvt @guicruzzz @arielhelwani @AgFight @mma_kings @TATAMEMAGAZINE @graciemag_br @OlivarLeite1 pic.twitter.com/xt0vRYsUR4
— Charles Oliveira (@CharlesDoBronxs) December 29, 2020
Of course, most hardcore fans were already aware of Oliveira’s grappling prowess. After all, he holds the record for most submission wins in the UFC with 14.
Additionally, he has also improved his striking dramatically which has contributed to seven finishes in his current eight-fight winning streak.
However, grappling is still his bread and butter and it will be interesting to see how Oliveira fares against the rest of the top lightweights.
Do you think Oliveira can be lightweight champion? Who should he face next?