See the reactions to Charles Oliveira defeating Michael Chandler for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 262
For the first time since 2016, the UFC lightweight championship isn’t around the waist of someone named Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov. Today, after a long winning streak to get to the top, after 40 professional MMA fights, Charles Oliveira can now call himself the champion after his TKO of Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 262.
Oliveira, who holds the UFC record for most submissions, had won eight straight and nine of the 10 he had since switching to 155 in 2017. His streak entering this fight included submissions of Clay Guida, Christos Giagos, Jim Miller, David Teymur and Kevin Lee, as well as KOs of Nik Lentz and Jared Gordon and a decision over Tony Ferguson.
Chandler, the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion and one of the faces of that promotion, signed with the UFC as a free agent last year. He made his Octagon debut in the co-main event of UFC 257 in January, knocking out Dan Hooker.
Fellow UFC fighters chime in on Charles Oliveira capturing the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 262
An incredible opening round saw both men trouble one another. Chandler caught Oliveira early and nearly secured a guillotine. He appeared near the finish, but Oliveira managed to reverse and nearly score a couple of submission finishes of his own. Both men were aggressive and had their fair share of highlights, though Chandler nearly got Oliveira again in the late stages of the frame.
But it didn’t take long for Oliveira to put away Chandler in the second, dropping him with a right hook before finishing him with a few follow-up shots.
See how fellow fighters reacted to Oliveira claiming the vacant UFC lightweight championship.