Charles Oliveira wins UFC lightweight title and sets UFC record for stoppages
Charles Oliveira earned his first UFC title fight in his 28th bout with the promotion. He made the most of that opportunity. Oliveira stopped Michael Chandler 19 seconds into the second round of their matchup. With his TKO victory, the Brazilian fighter claimed the vacant lightweight title.
Oliveira made his UFC debut in 2010 on the preliminary card of UFC on Versus 2. He defeated Darren Elkins via submission in that bout to claim his first UFC stoppage, first UFC submission and first UFC post-fight bonus.
With his win over Chandler at UFC 262, Oliveira is now first in UFC career finishes (17) and second in career fight-night bonuses (17). Entering the contest, Oliveira held the record for most submission wins in UFC history with 14. His victory over Chandler also moved him into the top-10 in UFC fights (28), wins (19) and winning streak (9). Without a submission attempt, Oliveira held on to his No. 2 spot in career submission attempts with 35. All this serves as a reminder that the 31-year-old has been one of the best and most underrated fighters in UFC history.
Oliveira didn’t have an easy go during the first five minutes of his bout with Chandler, but he took the minute between the first and second rounds, cleared his head and went out and crushed Chandler with his striking. Oliveira landed 14 of 17 significant strikes in the 19 seconds the second stanza lasted. It was an impressive performance from a fighter who is still working to overcome a reputation, according to Chandler and the UFC commentary team, as a front-runner. That image of Oliveira persists even though he entered the Chandler matchup on an eight-fight winning streak with seven finishes during that stretch.
With the UFC belt around his waist and his name etched in the UFC record book, Oliveira had to have changed some opinions about his career in the aftermath of his win over Chandler and if he didn’t, I doubt he cares about those who hold an outdated and wrong opinion of him.
Read on for the final fight stats from the main event of UFC 262.
UFC 262 took place at Toyota Center in Houston, TX. The main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ESPN+.