Charlies Oliveira has claimed the BMF title with a comprehensive win over Max Holloway, dethroning the American with a grappling masterclass.
The Brasilian former UFC lightweight champion and current No.3 contender added another belt to his stellar record, being one of the most accomplished mixed martial arts athletes of all time.
Now with a 37-11 record, Oliveira has secured revenge after he previously went down to Holloway, losing via a Round 1 knockout when they faced off in August 2015.
UFC 326 Holloway vs Oliveira 2 | SUN 8 MARCH 1PM AEDT | After 11 years removed from their first encounter, Max Holloway will face the former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira for the BMF Championship, in Las Vegas. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
From the opening bell, Oliveira imposed himself upon Holloway, both with his fists and his grappling.
In each round he dragged the Hawaiian legend to the canvas and remained on top of him until the siren sounded.
He worked for various submissions throughout the fight, but Holloway did just enough to survive.
There was a brief striking exchange in the final moments of the fight. But Oliveira probably came out in that better, too.
“That was about as dominant as you can get,” said former champion Michael Bisping following the bout.
“Charles is the BMF champion of the world and he made it look easy.”
Dustin Poirier couldn’t believe how one-sided it was.
“We’ve never seen Max dominated like that,” he remarked.
However, his victory wasn’t without controversy, with the T-Mobile Arena crowd booing at times during the bout as Oliveira dominated on the canvas.
Daniel Cormier couldn’t help but ask a pointed question, with the last BMF bout seeing Holloway and Dustin Poirier sharing a staggering striking duel.
“It has been unbelievably dominant, but BMF, did we maybe expect more striking? I had to be the guy to ask,” Daniel Cormier said.
However, both Jon Anik and Joe Rogan spoke incredibly complimentary of Oliveira’s display.
“He just dominated arguably the best volume striker in history,” Jon Anik said.
Before Rogan added: “This is the clearest cut unanimous decision in the history of the sport”.
Coming into this bout, Oliveira already held the UFC record for most finishes, most submissions and most performance of the night bonuses.
However, he was unable to add to that tally, telling Rogan post-fight he was forced onto the canvas due to Holloway’s dangerous striking talents.
Holloway, meanwhile, said he is “not done yet” however it remains to be seen who he will fight next.
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REVEALING MOMENT AHEAD OF WHITE HOUSE CARD ANNOUNCEMENT
Dana White revealed on Saturday that one of the fights planned for the historic White House event had fallen through – and the moment it happened may have been recorded.
The UFC boss told influencer Nina Drama during a Power Slap event that one of the proposed bouts won’t be going ahead moments before the pair spoke.
A disappointed White joked that his chief business officer, Hunter Campbell, ‘killed himself’ after learning the news.
Afterwards, a clip went viral on social media appearing to show the moment Campbell informed matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard of the news during the weigh-ins.
All three men looked unhappy about something, but Maynard looked particularly upset after Cambell whispered something in his ear.
Big Rodrigues right hand lands early KO! | 00:27
“I’m hungover,” White told Drama earlier during the interview.
“I went out with Kid Rock last night, bad idea; we drank a lot of whiskey. Big fat-headed Dana White emoji ‘f*** you’!
“I’m too hungover to deal with you people tonight. It says tell me one name, I’ll tell you something about the White House fight.
“So we’ve been working on this thing non-stop and one of the fights literally just fell out when I walked in here.
“I think Hunter killed himself. One of the fights fell off tonight, brutal.”
‘FIGHTING NERD’S DOMINANCE’ AND UGLY TRIPLE LOW BLOW
Elsewhere, Caio Borralho secured an impressive win over Reinier de Ridder by unanimous decision.
The Brazilian star was awarded a decision victory, sporting his ‘fighting nerd’ glasses post-fight as he spoke to Joe Rogan.
“Nobody is going to stop the Fighting Nerds,” he said, before calling out South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis.
“Where are you, boy?” he said.
Earlier, former champ Cody Garbrandt was left throwing up on the canvas after being kicked low three times in his bout with Xiao Long.
Long, who was fighting well on Sunday, left Garbrandt in some pain after the first low kick in Round 3.
Three groin hits in one fight! | 00:45
The American fighter took some time to recover and resumed the fight.
However, just moments later he was kicked low again, which left Garbrandt in a much worse state, writhing on the mat before he threw up into a bucket.
A point was deducted from the Chinese fighter and both men resumed the bout.
Unbelievably, Long landed another low blow — this time a knee. Garbrandt was reeling and Long had another point deducted.