Charles Oliveira was rocked and bloodied in Round 1 but he survived to stop Chandler and claim the lightweight title in Round 2 after Khabib Nurmagomedov's decision to retire from the sport this past October. .
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The UFC 262 main event between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler for the vacant lightweight championship ended. The match showed that Chandler was in full control and Oliveira couldn’t hang on the feet. Just moments after the start of the second round, Oliveira flipped the script and finished Chandler with a huge left hook. With the wild comeback win, Oliveira is now the UFC lightweight champion of the world. He has earned the honor to step into the spotlight after Khabib Nurmagomedov’s decision to retire from the sport this past October.
Oliveira took the early momentum, managing to react after getting hit with a left hand. He took the fight to the ground. Chandler made the mistake of giving up his back after nearly locking in a guillotine choke. He tried to slam himself backward to get out of the position, but Oliveira managed to hold on.
Chandler eventually exploded out of the position to get back to his feet. He badly hurt Oliveira with a left hand. He landed more punches before deciding to remain on the ground. Oliveira tried to pound and tried working the ground position but he survived the round.
Oliveira never took his foot off the gas, unleashing a flurry of clean punches. This forced the stoppage just 19 seconds into Round 2.
The win came in Oliveira’s first shot at the title after more than a decade fighting in the UFC. Despite being the UFC’s all-time leader in submission victories, Oliveira had vowed to knock out Chandler and he made good on his word.
Chandler, a three-time Bellator lightweight champion who was fighting in the UFC for only the second time in his career, complimented Oliveira after the fight, vowing to eventually earn another opportunity to fight the new champion.
In the co-main event, Tony Ferguson had to endure his third straight loss in the UFC. The former interim lightweight champ was dominated by Beneil Dariush for three rounds.
