Charles Oliveira entered the octagon on Saturday as lightweight champion. He left him without a belt, but also with the recognition that he is clearly the best 155-kilogram on the planet.
In a wild, spectacular battle, Oliveira passed Justin Getzie with a suffocation from behind at 3:22 a.m. in the first round of UFC 274’s main event at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
As Oliveira lost a pound of weight on Friday, he was stripped of the title when the bell rang. The UFC has ruled that if Oliveira wins, he will be the number one contender.
Both men fell and both were shaken in the brief battle, but it was a shootout in which Gaethje did not have the bullets to win. He missed Oliveira twice, but due to the superiority of Oliveira’s jiu-jitsu, he did not follow him to the floor and did not try to finish with land and pounds.
Oliveira, by contrast, had no such problem. In the final sequence, he took down Gaethje and first strangled him in a triangle. Gaethje slipped away, but Oliveira, the UFC’s all-time leader in passes and finishes, quickly got the door. He scored the last goal and for the second time in the lightweight title match Gaethje hit.
Charles Oliveira and Justin Getty fought during their UFC 274 lightweight bout at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht / MediaNews Group / Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
Each man was officially credited with a knockdown, but both fell several times. Oliveira’s ability to fight in all positions was what made the difference.
“Something is missing,” Oliveira said in the octagon after the victory. “The champion has a name, and that’s Charles Do Bronx Oliveira.”
The battle has been action-packed since the beginning of the bell. The bell rang and seconds later Oliveira hit Gaethje in the right, which hurt him. Gaethje recovered and dropped Oliveira. But instead of following the Brazilian to the carpet, Getty stepped back and let Oliveira get up.
They exchanged blows, elbows, knees, and kicks, and seemed to take turns hurting the other. But when Oliveira missed Gaethje one last time and Gaethje failed to get up right away, it was essentially the end.
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“This is a message to the entire division,” said Oliveira, who jumped over the octagon immediately after the victory and spoke with UFC President Dana White. “I am a problem for the whole division. … I am the champion. That’s my title. “
He said he didn’t care who the next one fought, but said he would like to deal with former champion Conor McGregor.
Charles Oliveira of Brazil is preparing to fight Justin Getty at the UFC 274 main event at the Footprint Center on May 7, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC)
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