UFC Fight Night 74 came to a scary conclusion when Charles Oliveira crumbled to the mat following a takedown attempt. The fight was waved off after just 99 seconds, but the cause for concern didn’t end there. According to MMAJunkie’s Matt Erickson, Oliveira was put into a neck brace and was stretchered into the back following the fight.
Not a good looking scene here with about a dozen people gathered around Oliveira as they stabilize his neck and get him on a stretcher.
— Matt Erickson (@MMAjunkieMatt) August 24, 2015
Oliveira‘s neck is braced, and he’s on the stretcher. They’re taking him out the back way and he’s still grabbing at his neck.
— Matt Erickson (@MMAjunkieMatt) August 24, 2015
Scary stuff, of course. According to Matheus Aquino, Oliveira entered the cage with some manner of neck injury, which was discussed by the Brazilian broadcast team:
Combate’s color commentator @alonsopvt just said on air that he heard that do Bronx went into the fight with some type of neck injury (cont)
— Matheus Aquino (@MatheusDCAquino) August 24, 2015
but his team had told him it wasn’t anything serious. Well, looks like it was.
— Matheus Aquino (@MatheusDCAquino) August 24, 2015
Oliveira, unsurprisingly, was not in attendance for the post-fight press conference. UFC Managing Director for Operations in Canada Tom Wright, who manned the podium for the Fight Night 74 post-fight press conference (Warning: NSFW language), gave a quick update on Oliveira‘s condition, saying, “Charles was immediately transported to the hospital. He was alert, he was able to move all his extremities. We are waiting for any updates that we’ll get. As soon as we hear from them, we’ll be able to tell you, but that’s the information on Charles Oliveira.”
For those who missed it, Holloway vs. Oliveira came to a disturbing end. After the two featherweights exchanged some strikes, Oliveira looked for a single-leg takedown. Holloway easily defended it, pulling himself away from Oliveira and inviting him to stand back up.
When Oliveira returned to his feet, however, he grabbed hold of the left side of his neck or collarbone and slowly sat himself back down onto the canvas. He lied back and, seemingly, stayed there until being stretchered away.
In all likelihood, these are just precautionary measures, but keep an eye out here for more updates on Oliveira‘s condition as they come.
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