With the UFC 256 in the books, Charles Oliveira put on a dominating performance against Tony Ferguson. Oliveira controlled Ferguson like no other fighter could, on the feet and on the ground.
The judges all scored the fight 30-26 unanimously which means it was a one-sided beating. He even sank in an armbar that 10 out of 10 fighters would have tapped according to Dana White. Ferguson is known to have high-level jiujitsu under his trainer 10th planet’s Eddie Bravo.
Eddie Bravo is a world accomplished BJJ that has beaten the best BJJ practitioners including names like Royler Gracie. Bravo credited Ferguson to have high-level BJJ as a pro-MMA fighter.
With Ferguson’s wrestling and BJJ credential, many would have thought that Ferguson may not be easily taken down and if he was, he could still dominate off his back. Unfortunately for Ferguson, Oliveira just ran through him by taking him down easily and out grappling him everywhere.
The fight has destroyed the fantasy of Khabib vs Ferguson. Many fans thought about what would have happened if Khabib fought Ferguson. I think this fight answered the question hypothetically since it showed that a high-level grappler could dominate Ferguson.
The fight may have shown what would have happened but Ferguson may just be out of his prime years. His high-level athleticism may have deteriorated due to his age and may lead to him not winning the belt anymore.
Not to take away with Oliveira’s performance, he put on a show that put a notice on other lightweight contenders. Oliveira in hindsight shows to be Ferguson 2.0, both have a similar unorthodox style of fighting but Oliveira shows to be the young and improved fighter. Although Oliveira has better striking and both have high-level BJJ.
During his post-fight interview, Oliveira set his eyes on fighting for the belt next. He called out the winner of Conor Mcgregor vs Dustin Poirier. Although there are still a few contenders on the title contention, Oliveira is more than ready to be the next lightweight champion.
É isso. 👊
Period. 👊#UFCnoCombate @UFC @UFCBrasil #UFC256 #ESPNplus @seanshelby @danawhite pic.twitter.com/JhGdQMaEpJ
— Charles Oliveira (@CharlesDoBronxs) December 13, 2020
Oliveira is on an 8 fight win streak and deserves the title shot more than anyone else. Justin Gaethje just lost his last fight against Khabib so he needs to rebound a win first in order to get back for the title shot. Mcgregor and Poirier also both lost to Khabib but have come back with a win since then.
Michael Chandler is yet to make his UFC debut but has still not proven that he belongs with the UFC elites. He may have been accomplished in Bellator but sometimes the UFC has a different talent and matchmaking.
The projected fight to make might be that Chandler vs Gaethje will be the co-main event for Mcgregor vs Poirier fight card which makes sense as both can serve as a backup if any circumstances happen.
The lightweight division is probably the most stacked division in the UFC right now, due to the big names and talent that it currently has. It would be an exciting next year as what will happen with the division. Will Khabib come back for the 30-0 record, or will the UFC move on and crown another lightweight king.
