Charles Oliveira largely dominated Michael Chandler in their rematch, but it wasn’t without a scare.
After four rounds of superior fighting from Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) in the grappling department, he had to dig deep to survive a late onslaught from Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC). He ultimately won by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45).
In each of the first three rounds, Oliveira took down Chandler. And once there, it was his world. However, Chandler’s defense was good enough to fend off constant rear-naked choke attempts. In Round 2, Oliveira also landed some solid strikes on Chandler, who appeared to struggle with his footing, tripping over the cage at some points.
But much of the most memorable action took place in a wild Round 5. After a push kick by Oliveira seemed to wobble Chandler’s lead leg, the former Bellator champion got him back. Chandler landed a big punch that wobbled Oliveira and sent him on the retreat. Oliveira tried to grab hold but Chandler dumped him to the canvas. Chandler then unloaded more than 12 punches, many of which appeared to be to the back of the head, though not in the eyes of referee Keith Peterson. Chandler sat in Oliveira’s guard for a bit before eventually getting back to his feet. Once there, Chandler waved on Oliveira, only to be dragged to the canvas again.
In the final minutes, Oliveira grabbed Chandler’s back. Chandler then stood up not once, but twice, with Oliveira on his back. Each time, Chandler slammed Oliveira with a backdrop, but the Brazilian hung on tight as the final bell sounded.
DOMINANCE FROM DO BRONXS@CharlesDoBronxs powers through five rounds for the decision! #UFC309 pic.twitter.com/ECNGkfJ3o7
— UFC (@ufc) November 17, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js With the win, Oliveira moves to 2-0 against Chandler. The two fought for the vacant lightweight title in May 2021 when Oliveira knocked out Chandler in the opening seconds of Round 2.
