Brazilian finisher Alex Oliveira completely cashed in last night (Sat., April 14, 2018) at UFC on FOX 29 from inside Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, when he submitted former UFC welterweight titleholder Carlos Condit via second-round guillotine choke (watch here).
Oliveira, who was filling in on short notice for an injured Matt Brown, had to power through a Condit rear-naked choke attempt in the first round before taking it to the veteran in the second. While Oliveira ended up tapping “Natural Born Killer,” it took much longer than expected.
Holding onto the submission attempt for what seemed to be an eternity, “Cowboy” reveals that Condit actually went out during the choke. The two men were pinned along the cage so it was difficult for the referee to gauge Condit’s status, but it wasn’t until Oliveira changed his grip that Condit came to and started to defend again.
“Yeah, he went to sleep, and I changed grips on him, and he woke up, and I had to finish it, so I went and tightened it again,” Oliveira said during his UFC on FOX 29 post-fight media scrum. “And then he tapped.”
Knowing how tricky finishes can be in mixed martial arts (MMA), Oliveira wasn’t going to let go of the submission until the referee broke the action up, even if he felt Condit slipping away.
“Yeah, if I stopped and the judges didn’t give me the victory, I had to put on the pressure,” Oliveira explained.
Considering Condit is one of the toughest fighters in MMA, Oliveira did what he had to do to escape the Octagon with the biggest win of his career. The choke was applied for quite some time, and now we’re finding out that Condit had gone to sleep before coming to and tapping. Pretty powerful stuff.
As for Oliveira’s next UFC venture, the 30-year-old is looking to get back into action fairly quickly. But first, he has to handle a few personal issues before trying to follow-up his Performance of the Night outing against Condit.
“One of my aunts died as soon I got here,” Oliveira said. “My uncle’s in the hospital. I don’t even know how he is, but you know, I had to come and fight.”
“A week of rest, and then I’ll start training again, and I’ll be … training for the next one,” he added.
With a 3-1 (1 NC) record since returning to 170 pounds in 2016, which includes finishes over Condit, Ryan LaFlare, and Tim Means, Oliveira looks like a prime candidate to draw a top 10 opponent his next time out.
Maybe a matchup with the always game Jorge Masvidal? That would be pretty entertaining.
For complete UFC on FOX 29 results and coverage click here.