Charles Oliveira of Brazil has the belt placed on him by Dana White after defeating Michael Chandler during their Championship Lightweight Bout at the UFC 262 event at Toyota Center on May 15, 2021 in Houston, Texas. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Carmen Mandato / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Brazilian Charles Oliveira mounted a superb comeback to score a second-round knockout victory over American Michael Chandler to win the UFC lightweight title in the main event of UFC 262 in Houston, Texas on Saturday.
Fighting for the title left vacant by the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov last October, Oliveira escaped an early guillotine choke attempt and took Chandler’s back, but the 35-year-old former Bellator champion was able to escape and land a string of powerful punches to leave Oliveria hanging on at the end of the first frame.
He collected himself in the break and came out strong again, dropping Chandler with a sweet left hook and following up with powerful strikes to force referee Dan Miragliotta to call a halt to the contest 19 seconds into the second round.
“I wanted to come here and show that I’m the best in this division…I’m proving to everybody I’m the lion of lions,” Oliveira said in the octagon following his ninth straight UFC victory.
What say? Hard work paid off. A dream came true. Now I'm UFC lightweight champ. Thank you to my fans for all the support. You're special.
O que dizer? Meu esforço valeu a pena. O sonho se tornou realidade, me tornei campeão leve do UFC. Fãs, obrigado pelo apoio. #AFavelaVenceu
— Charles Oliveira (@CharlesDoBronxs) May 16, 2021
In the co-main event, Beneil Dariush dominated former interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson to put his name among the contenders that will be looking to challenge Chandler for the belt.