Charles Oliveira stops Justin Gaethje in first, leaves without title
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, May 7, 2022, for UFC 274, going down live from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Headlining the event is a UFC lightweight championship bout between champion Charles Oliveira and former interim champion Justin Gaethje. Unfortunately, Oliveira missed weight by .5 lbs and has been forced to vacate his championship.
Only Gaethje will be eligible to win the title tonight.
Co-headlining the event is a UFC strawweight championship rematch between current champion Rose Namajunas and former champion Carla Esparza. These two met in their UFC debuts, opposing one another, with Esparza the victor.
Now they find themselves in a rematch for that same belt here at UFC 274.
Back to our main event, here’s a fun fact: Oliveira has 20 submission wins throughout his career, and Gaethje has 19 knockout wins throughout his. Continue reading to see how this epic championship bout went down:
Official Result: Charles Oliveira def. Justin Gaethje via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:33 of round one
Oliveira opens up the bout with a thunderous right hand that already has Gaethje on wobbly legs.
Already, this fight is already insane.
Gaethje then cracks Oliveira and drops him, before Oliveira’s forced back to his feet, as Gaethje refuses to engage in his ground game. Gaethje begins to land his leg kicks and lands another heavy overhand that again drops Oliveira again.
Things aren’t looking so good for the Brazilian, but he’s been here before.
Oliveira ties up with Gaethje, lands a couple knees, then pulls guard, but Gaethje stands right up out of it.
Oliveira then hits Gaethje with another brutal right hand and drops him with it. Oliveira proceeds to attempt to take Gaethje’s back, but ends up locking him in a reverse triangle.
Gaethje is out shortly after, but not for long, as Oliveira is actually able to secure his back this time and sinks in the rear naked choke immediately.
From the first round of his fights with Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, and now Justin Gaethje; he was hurt so badly by all of them, and they’re the three best, and most dangerous talents in the UFC’s 155 lb division.
All three of those names are in the top five, and the name that completes that top five is Islam Makhachev, perhaps Oliveira’s next opponent. One could only hope, because that’s the fight to make.
Just think, one more win and ‘Do Bronx’ ties Khabib Nurmagomedov for 12-straight wins, two more until he ties Tony Ferguson for 13-straight, and three more to break that record as well, along with all the others he already has.
Speaking of his records, he just broke two of them with this win. He extended this record for he most finishes in UFC history to 19, and he extended his record for most submissions in UFC history at 16. Just astounding.
If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to share it on social media!
