Charles Oliveira avoided potential disaster in the fifth round but ultimately still won a lopsided decision in the UFC 309 co-main event to beat Michael Chandler for a second time.
It was utter domination for Oliveira through the first four rounds as he beat Chandler on the feet and then suffocated him on the ground. It looked like he was cruising to victory until Chandler blasted him with punches in the final frame and nearly pulled off the miraculous comeback.
Oliveira survived and ended up with one final takedown that snuffed out Chandler’s hopes for the victory with the judges ultimately scoring the fight 49-46, 49-46 and 49-45 for the former lightweight champion.
“This guy’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever fought,” Oliveira said about Chandler. “This guy has all my respect. Whoever is next in line, I’ll be there front row in January.”
Some early striking exchanges led to a slick trip takedown from Oliveira with Chandler landing in an unfamiliar position on his back. Oliveira’s leg was actually stuck in a strange position, which prevented him from really producing much offense to prevent Chandler from escaping his grasp.
Following a slow moving opening round, Oliveira went on the attack in the second with a laser-like straight punch that twisted Chandler’s head around. He followed with another hard shot that forced Chandler to turn and almost run away as he tried to avoid further damage.
Oliveira continued to stab away with accurate yet powerful strikes and Chandler was forced to throw caution to the wind as he started winging shots back at him. That led to another takedown from Oliveira, who almost immediately moved into the mount.
A patient Oliveira waited for the best possible openings before unleashing some vicious elbows from the top with Chandler just absorbing punishment on the bottom.
On the restart in the third round, Chandler tried to get a little more aggressive but he ended up with his back against the cage again, which allowed Oliveira to just measure his strikes. From uppercuts to elbows and then knees up the middle, Oliveira was just punishing him but also not getting too crazy to allow Chandler to hit him with something in return.
That led to another takedown with Oliveira immediately advancing to the back with a body triangle locked on and Chandler was stuck playing defense yet again. Chandler survived the round but he was shifting into finish only mode with the scorecards so obviously against him after being dominated through 15 minutes.
While Chandler uncorked some powerful punches, he couldn’t stop the takedown with Oliveira once again ending up on his back. Oliveira nearly secured a rear naked choke but Chandler fought his way free, although he had to know it was do or die with time running out on him.
Knowing that it was finish or bust, Chandler finally found a home for his best punches as he blasted Oliveira and put the former champion down for the first time in the fifth round. Chandler started unloading with a barrage of shots, although many appeared to land to the back of the head but the referee didn’t intervene.
Somehow, Oliveira avoided the onslaught and got back to his feet before he secured another takedown, although Chandler kept powering his way to the feet. Even with Oliveira locked on his back, Chandler defiantly jumped backwards trying to shake him loose but it was too little, too late as the fight came to a close.
After two years away, Chandler returned and obviously didn’t get the result he wanted but there’s still plenty of opportunity awaiting him in the future.
“All I know how to do is throw American bad ass caution to the wind,” Chandler said. “Maybe Max Holloway for the ‘BMF” belt or Conor McGregor if you can get your house back in order … come back and beat me if you can.”
