Undefeated lightweight Charles Oliveira (13-0) made his UFC debut in August, submitting Darren Elkins at the UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko event.
The 20 year old Brazilian wasn’t even thinking about a submission bonus when he tapped out Elkins with an armbar, but welcomed the bonus money that came with the “Submission of the Night.”
Now Oliveira will step back into the octagon, in just over a months time since his Elkins fight, to face Efrain Escudero on this Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares event. Some may think that preparing for a fight with only a months time is too much, but for Olilveira, he enjoys the pressure a fight like this brings.
“I was very glad with my first (UFC) victory,” Oliveira says. “I didn’t even think about the possibility of the submission bonus, and when they alerted me about it, this was a big surprise. The emotion was huge, mainly because this was result of a lot of training. We knew we could finish the fight, but never thought about it coming that quick.”
“People asked me about overtraining from the Elkins preparation to this one, and I replied with, ‘I had a reasonable time between fights,’” said the young lightweight. “The important thing was that God gave me the opportunity to fight again, and I have this gratitude to Him. I was already training moderately when the call was made; I’ve only added more continuity and focus.”
“I always love to fight under pressure, but I don’t carry it inside the Octagon. For me, every fight is like the first one,” he says. “The hype people are talking about means that I need to train much more. Cardoso and Patino keep me peaceful and away from all of this.”
HT: Quotes and photo via UFC.com.