5 times that Charles Oliveira surprised his opponents in the UFC
This weekend sees UFC lightweight kingpin Charles Oliveira return to the octagon as he defends his title against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 269.
Charles Oliveira has been a UFC star since 2010. While he took the long route to the top, he’s made a habit of surprising his opponents inside the octagon over the years.
Whether that’s by catching them in submissions out of nowhere or demonstrating surprising power in his hands to take them out by knockout, ‘Do Bronx’ is a master of throwing fighters off their own gameplan and then finding a way to defeat them.
Can Charles Oliveira do the same to Poirier this weekend? Only time will tell, but judging by his past octagon showings, it’s definitely possible.
#WeHaveArrived
#UFC269 https://t.co/nTbpJofHLB
With that considered, here are five times that Charles Oliveira surprised his opponents inside the octagon.
#5. Charles Oliveira vs. Kevin Lee – UFC Fight Night 170
By early 2020, Charles Oliveira had established himself as a highly dangerous lightweight contender. However, he still had a reputation for being a bit of a glass cannon, something that Kevin Lee was expected to take advantage of in their clash at UFC Fight Night 170.
At the time, ‘The Motown Phenom’ was coming off one of the best knockouts of his career over Gregor Gillespie. More to the point, with his tremendous wrestling, improving boxing and strong top game, he looked like a horrible matchup for Oliveira.
Early on in the fight, it looked like those hunches were correct. Charles Oliveira went for his trademark submission attacks, but Lee was able to avoid them,. By the second round, it looked like ‘Do Bronx’ was slowing down as Lee began to use his ground-and-pound attack.
Lee came out confidently for the third round, but when he shot in for a takedown, he made a horrendous mistake, leaving his neck slightly open. It was the opening that Oliveira required and he quickly synched up a guillotine choke, literally out of nowhere.
JUST THAT QUICKLY! 👀
🇧🇷 Oliveira ends the night from #UFCBrasilia. https://t.co/m8uJShU4kc
‘The Motown Phenom’ attempted to fight off the hold, but quickly ended up tapping out, something he then denied after the fight, suggesting that he was actually on the verge of passing out anyway.
Sure, it wasn’t shocking to see Charles Oliveira submit Lee in this fashion, but to see him do it once ‘The Motown Phenom’ had begun to get comfortable was mightily impressive. There was no disputing the idea that Lee never saw it coming.