Author: Dan Hiergesell

Charles Oliveira ended up claiming the vacant UFC lightweight title with a win over Michael Chandler last weekend at UFC 262, but his coach believes he could have done better.

Oliveira, who entered the main event clash riding an eight-fight win streak, was participating in his first UFC title fight since joining the promotion 11 years ago. “Do Bronx” encountered some issues in the first round as Chandler nearly finished him with strikes, but the veteran regrouped to earn a TKO stoppage in the second.

Now we’re learning that Oliveira suffered a leg injury during training and wasn’t able to stick with the same gameplan against Chandler. “Do Bronx” had planned to use more kicks to limit the explosiveness and mobility of Chandler. It would have come in handy considering Chandler was able to use his athleticism and distance control to clobber Oliveira with some hard punches in the first round, but “Do Bronx” eventually adapted.

Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, detailed the pre-fight injury in a recent interview with Ag Fight.

“Charles slipped. He hurt his leg, so we couldn’t kick too much. It took us some time before we could start kicking. We started kicking only two weeks prior to the fight and kicking was one of the things we wanted to do the most in the fight. Nothing fazes Charles, though. He’s bulletproof, it’s amazing.”

Luckily, Oliveira was able to re-define his gameplan and score some solid control time on the ground in the early going. Once he decided to open up on the feet to begin the second round he was able to starch Chandler with a flurry of punches and eventually captured the lightweight strap. It would have been interesting to see if Oliveira could have taken Chandler out sooner if his leg was at full strength.

For now, Oliveira will be able to heal up whatever injuries he endured leading into and suffered at UFC 262. He will need every weapon in his arsenal moving forward as the UFC’s undisputed lightweight champion.

Nate Diaz is in high gear for his awaited return to the cage, which will take place next month at UFC 263 against No. 3-ranked welterweight contender Leon Edwards.

Diaz, who hasn’t competed since a TKO loss to Jorge Masvidal back in Nov. 2019, was originally expected to face Edwards at UFC 262 earlier this month. However, a small injury bumped Diaz from the card and forced the promotion to re-book the matchup for the next pay-per-view (PPV) event.

Luckily, Diaz and Edwards are still scheduled to fight for five rounds, which is a first for a non-title, non-main event UFC fight. With 25 minutes to work with and extra time to prepare Diaz is pulling out all the stops for his UFC 263 clash with “Rocky.” In fact, Diaz is giving fight fans an inside look into his training camp and what he’s been doing to gameplan for a fighter like Edwards, who hasn’t tasted defeat since a decision loss to Kamaru Usman back in 2015.

Diaz’s recent training camp footage can be seen in the above video player.

If Diaz is able to take out Edwards it will once again set him up for a massive fight his next time out. Current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is already running out of top contenders so maybe Diaz can sneak in for a title shot with a win over the No. 3-ranked guy. Edwards is no slouch, though, as the English striker has looked better and better over the past five years.

UFC 263 will take place on June 12 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, with a middleweight title fight rematch between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori serving as the main event.

For more UFC 263 fight card news click here.

The pay-per-view (PPV) numbers are in for UFC 262 and they’re much better than expected.

UFC 262, which took place on May 15th from inside a sold out Toyota Center in Houston, Tex., saw Charles Oliveira knock out Michael Chandler in the main event to claim the vacant UFC lightweight title (highlights HERE). It was Oliveira’s ninth-straight win inside of the Octagon and his first shot at UFC gold in over 10 years with the promotion.

According to Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand, UFC 262 produced at least 300,000 domestic PPV buys through ESPN+. These preliminary numbers are just for U.S. viewers. International numbers were not included.

Considering UFC 262 lost a co-main event clash involving welterweights Nate Diaz and Leon Edwards these early PPV numbers are fairly impressive. Hardcore fans understand how good Oliveira and Chandler both are, but they aren’t considered major UFC stars at this point in time. Producing these type of numbers is a big success, especially considering this was just the second Octagon appearance by Chandler.

Oliveira is likely to defend his UFC lightweight title next against the winner of Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 3, which goes down at UFC 264 this July. As for Chandler, he nearly finished “Do Bronx” in the first round of their UFC 262 main event clash so one more win should be all he needs to put himself back in contention.

UFC will return to the PPV business with UFC 263 set to go down on June 12 live on ESPN+ PPV from Glendale, Arizona. A middleweight clash between current UFC champion Israel Adesanya and surging contender Marvin Vettori will serve as the main event.

Th action delivered as advertised last night (Sat., May 15, 2021) at UFC 262 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Toyota Center in Houston, Tex., as Charles Oliveira put a stop to Michael Chandler in the second round to claim the vacant lightweight title (highlights HERE).

In addition to the lightweight title fight, a plethora of main card and “Prelims” contests lived up to their billing. Check them out below and let us know you’re favorite:

• Andre Muniz became the first fighter to submit Ronaldo Souza when he broke “Jacare’s” arm in the first round (highlights HERE)
• Middleweight prospect Jordan Wright returned to the win column with a first-round TKO finish over Jamie Pickett
• Featherweights Edson Barboza and Shane Burgos went toe-to-toe in a brutal PPV opener that saw Barboza capture a TKO win in the third

• Andrea Lee scored a beautiful triangle armbar over Antonina Shevchenko on the “Prelims” under card (highlights HERE)
• Women’s flyweight contender Priscila Cachoeira earned her second-straight knockout finish with a second-round stoppage over Gina Mazany
• Christos Giagos spoiled the Octagon return of striker Sean Soriano with a slick second-round D’Arce choke (see it HERE)

In order to sift through the action and see which fighters took home an extra $75,000, we take a closer look at the official UFC 262 bonus winners below:

Fight of the Night: Edson Barboza vs. Shane Burgos

Performance of the Night: Charles Oliveira

Performance of the Night: Christos Giagos

For complete UFC 262 results and coverage click here.

Charles Oliveira cashed in on his first UFC title shot last night (Sat., May 15, 2021) at UFC 262 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Toyota Center in Houston, Tex., when “Do Bronx” stopped former Bellator MMA champion Michael Chandler with a second-round TKO (punches) to claim the vacant lightweight strap.

Chandler cracked Oliveira in the early going and it forced “Do Bronx” to grab a takedown and eventually take Chandler’s back. Chandler defended perfectly and found a way back to his feet. That’s when Chandler caught Oliveira with a series of punches and sent him to the canvas. Chandler followed up with heavy ground-and-pound and nearly ended the fight.

In Round 2, Oliveira came out firing and caught Chandler with a brutal left hook. Chandler tried to recover but Oliveira was on him with a flurry of crisp punches. A barrage of left hands finished Chandler off along the cage and Oliveira walked away with the UFC lightweight title.

Check out the full fight highlights below courtesy of UFC/ESPN:

For complete UFC 262 results and coverage click here.

As soon as UFC 262 wraps up later tonight (Sat., May 15, 2021) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Toyota Center in Houston, Tex., fight fans can check out the live post-fight press conference video above for all the best reaction and official bonus winners.

On a night that will feature a main event lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler, a co-headliner pitting 155-pound veteran Tony Ferguson against red-hot contender Beneil Dariush, and a featherweight scrap between top-flight strikers Edson Barboza and Shane Burgos, there will be much to talk about when the action winds down.

The post-fight presser is scheduled to go live at 1:15 a.m. ET (Sunday), and feature the biggest winners and losers from the card.

For complete UFC 262 results and coverage click here.