The sold-out crowd of 16,000 at Houston’s Toyota Center screamed in unison. Charles Oliveira brought it on. In the first round of his fight against Michael Chandler he was about to be submitted and knocked out, but he recovered and in the opening action of the second round he changed the movie.
He finished the American, provoked madness in the arena and he started the riot. He jumped onto the commentators’ table, hugged Dana White… and even went to celebrate with several of his friends in the audience. The new lightweight champion couldn’t believe it, he was living a dream that started 11 years ago. He has had a long and tortuous road in UFC, but he has fulfilled it and in the best possible way.
Oliveira takes over Khabib’s throne after knocking out Chandler
The lightweight belt was vacant after Khabib’s retirement, so both Oliveira and Chandler had pressure on their backs because of the figure they were replacing. They couldn’t have put on more of a show in 5 minutes and 19 seconds. The Brazilian threw his first kick and with it sent Chandler to the ground, who quickly rebounded and put the pressure on.
He had to cut a lot of distance and he did. There, with one hand he caught Oliveira and took him to the ground. The key that closed the former Bellator champion was close to change the fight, but the Brazilian held and reversed the situation. Having an expert finisher like Oliveira on his back is not easy, but Chandler held his own and even slammed his back to the canvas.
Chandler came out of danger with great explosiveness and with the same explosiveness he caught Oliveira. The Brazilian went to the ground and resisted the American’s attack as best he could. That gave morale to Michael, who came out confident and went to the cross. Oliveira passed what came to him and connected his left right to the ‘disconnect button’.
Chandler tried the epic, but the Brazilian knew he was in front of his moment and did not waste it. Carousel of punches, stopped fight and party in Houston. The dream of his life was real: he is the new UFC lightweight champion. Well deserved.
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