Charles Oliveira will finally be getting something that fans of elite BJJ and submission finishes in MMA will likely see as long-overdue when he steps into the cage against Michael Chandler at UFC 262, a title shot. The only reason that this match will see both men compete for the vacant UFC Lightweight World Championship is that Dana White has finally accepted that Khabib Nurmagomedov has retired from competition and will now strip him of the title that he publicly relinquished months ago.
There isn’t really anyone more deserving of a title shot in the Lightweight division than Charles Oliveira and while Michael Chandler has only had one fight in the UFC, his Bellator resume certainly works in his favor. Oliveira will be coming into the fight on May 15th on a stunning 8 fight win-streak after absolutely demolishing Tony Ferguson at UFC 256, the only one of those eight fights that he wasn’t able to finish. After the fight, Oliveira called out the eventual winner of McGregor v Poirier 2 (Dustin Poirier) and wanted Dana White to make that fight for the vacant title.
While he didn’t get the opponent he asked for, the title itself was no doubt the main thing that Oliveira wanted out of his callout. Chandler won performance of the night honors in his UFC debut with a first-round knockout of Dan Hooker, straight off the back of two more first-round knockouts in the final fights of his Bellator career. Should Oliveira emerge victorious, this could set up the potential for the return of Khabib Nurmagomedov as his teammate Josh Thomson recently revealed that he was the only opponent left that could light the fire in him to want to return and reclaim his title.
UFC 262 will be available to watch live on May 15th on UFC FightPass, click here to subscribe and watch.
