Oliveira was originally set to take on striker Rafael Fiziev, but after the Kyrgyzstani contender was forced out of the matchup, Mateusz Gamrot stepped in on two weeks’ notice
Gamrot enjoyed some success early as he took Oliveira to the canvas. But, despite earning top position on the mat, the former champion showed how dangerous he was off his back as he threatened to finish the fight with a rear-naked choke late in the round.
Round 2 saw Gamrot look to establish his striking, but everything he threw returned with interest from Oliveira, who happily traded shots with the former two-division KSW champion. Then Oliveira switched gears and took Gamrot to the canvas and took the Pole’s back once again.
His attempt to lock up a rear-naked choke was partially blocked by Gamrot, who tucked his chin, but Oliveira wouldn’t be denied, and instead turned it into a face crank and applied the squeeze to force the tap.
It was the first time Gamrot had ever been finished in an MMA fight, and saw Oliveira extend his records for the most finishes in UFC history to 21, and the most submissions in UFC history to 17.
After the fight, Oliveira said he’d love to face Max Holloway next in a battle for the BMF title. He’ll do well to find someone who wouldn’t love to see that.
In the co-main event, former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo went all-out for victory against in-form Montel Jackson, and got what he was chasing for as he edged a split-decision victory after three competitive rounds.
Figueiredo was the more aggressive fighter through the three-round bantamweight contest as he earned scores of 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 to claim a huge win and snap a two-fight skid that saw him lose to Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen.
But now, with the win over Jackson putting him back in the win column, Figueiredo revealed his plan to work his way into championship contention, and a fight with reigning bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Former lightweight talent Joel Alvarez made a big statement on his UFC welterweight debut as he dominated longtime divisional stalwart Vicente Luque en route to a landslide decision win.
Alvarez should arguably have been given a first-round TKO victory after a punch to Luque’s right eye left the Brazilian unable to continue, citing an eye poke. Replays showed the punch was legal, with no eye poke, but referee Osiris Maia allowed Luque time to recover, when in reality he should have waved off the fight. In fact, he did appear to wave off the fight initially, before walking back that decision and giving Luque an injury timeout.
Both calls were wrong, and meant the fight continued, but Luque got little benefit from the bout’s continuation, as Alvarez battered the Brazilian through Round 2. Then, in a strange final round, Alvarez held an exhausted Luque in an inverted triangle choke that never really threatened to finish him, but ensured that there was no late-fight drama from the Brazilian fan-favourite.
In the end, Alvarez had to content himself with the first decision victory of his career, as he claimed scores of 30-26 on all three scorecards.
The main card also saw a battle of talented heavyweight prospects, with Portugal’s Mario Pinto delivering an outstanding performance to finish Jhonata Diniz with ground strikes late in the second round.
Pinto smartly used his wrestling and grappling skills to neutralise the striking talents of former kickboxing world champion Diniz. And, with the fight on the mat, Diniz, roared on by his coach and UK heavyweight stalwart Stuart Austin, went to work before eventually claiming the finish via ground and pound.
In the opening main card bout, Australia’s Kaan Ofli silenced the Rio crowd as he weathered an early submission storm before finishing Ricardo Ramos via rear-naked choke.
Ofli looked in big trouble early as Ramos locked up a leg and attempted to finish a kneebar. Despite looking very close to defeat, Ofli stayed calm and managed to extricate himself, before turning the tables on the Brazilian to get the submission finish after three minutes, two seconds.
Brazilian fighters dominate the prelims
While the main card delivered a mixed bag of results for the Brazilian fans in attendance, the preliminary card saw six Brazilian victories from seven fights.
Jafel Filho needed less than a round to submit Clayton Carpenter in their flyweight matchup, while heavyweight Vitor Petrino delivered one of the scariest KOs of the year to stop Thomas Petersen in the last round.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu queen and former LFA women’s bantamweight champion Bia Mesquita made a big impression on her UFC debut as she submitted Irina Alekseeva in Round 2, while strawweight prospect Julia Polastri bounced back into the win column with a third-round TKO finish of former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz to claim her second win inside the Octagon.
The other Brazilian wins came via Lucas Rocha’s decision victory over Stewart Nicoll, and Luan Lacerda’s second-round armbar submission of Saimon Oliveira in the opening bout of the night.
UFC Rio: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Charles Oliveira def. Mateusz Gamrot via submission (face crank) – Round 2, 2:48
- Deiveson Figueiredo def. Montel Jackson via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Joel Alvarez def. Vicente Luque via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Mario Pinto def. Jhonata Diniz via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:10
- Kaan Ofli def. Ricardo Ramos via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:02
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Michael Aswell def. Lucas Almeida via TKO (punches and elbow) – Round 1, 1:42
- Jafel Filho def. Clayton Carpenter via submission (Kimura) – Round 1, 4:42
- Vitor Petrino def. Thomas Petersen via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:26
- Bia Mesquita def. Irina Alekseeva via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:14
- Lucas Rocha def. Stewart Nicoll via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Julia Polastri def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via TKO (head kick and punches) – Round 3, 2:56
- Luan Lacerda def. Saimon Oliveira via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 3:55
