Former high-flying Brazilian lightweight Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira (14-2, 1NC) was once thought of as one of the best 155-pound fighters in the world, having entered the UFC with a 12-0 record.
Oliveira showed promise by winning his first two UFC bouts, both by submission which earned him the “Submission of the Night” bonus in each fight.
Then ‘Do Bronx’ ran into Jim Miller at UFC 124, suffering his first loss, then the “No Contest” against Nik Lentz, and finally a first round TKO defeat to Donald Cerrone. Quite the reversal of fortunes for the young Brazilian.
Now coach Ericson Cardoza is confirming that Oliveira will drop to 145 lbs for 2012 in the hopes of regaining his lost momentum.
“In November we’ll start training for the featherweight class to see how he feels… Probably he’ll fight on the beginning of the year on the new weight class”, said Ericson, who coaches Charles along with Jorge Patino Macaco, explaining the change after five bouts on the Ultimate Fighting.
“Charles is naturally strong, he’s always been explosive, but we’ll feel this chance in UFC. Even when he won, his opponents were bigger than him. We had to options: make him stronger to remain among the lightweights or drop to the featherweight division, and we rather drop so he doesn’t lose his speed and explosion power”, argues.
“He has proven he can fight on the lightweight, but it’s a fresh start for him in the UFC”, complemented.
HT: Tatame.com for the quote