Charles Oliveira will be returning to action in the main event of UFC Rio on October 11th, 2025, where he will be facing fellow lightweight veteran Rafael Fiziev. It’s going to be an important fight for Oliveira for several reasons, not least of all because he’ll be getting the chance to fight in front of his home crowd. It’s the first time in over 5 years that Oliveira has been able to fight in Brazil, marking the longest he’s ever gone without doing so. It’s also a key moment for Oliveira if he wants to make one final run at regaining the title too.
Oliveira is now quite far removed from his legendary 11-fight streak of finishes that included winning the title, and at 35 he doesn’t have much time left to win it back. That streak was snapped when Islam Makhachev beat him to win the belt at UFC 280, and Oliveira hasn’t been able to find that form again since. He’s alternated wins and losses since that fight but he’s consistently fought the best in the division. His losses were in a title-eliminator against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300, and most then recently when the title was vacated by Makhachev and put on the line at UFC 317 against Ilia Topuria.
Oliveira now finds himself at 2-3 in his last 5 fights and Fiziev is an incredibly tough opponent, but only ranked tenth in the division. A win will help Oliveira hold on to his place in the rankings and give him a chance at a top-five opponent in his next outing, which would likely lead to another title-shot if he wins there. A loss would be devastating though, as it would be the first time in almost 9 years that he’s suffered back-to-back losses and he would almost certainly drop out of the top five. Charles Oliveira vs Rafael Fiziev isn’t the only fight for grappling fans to look forward to at UFC Rio too, as BJJ legend Beatriz ‘Bia’ Mesquita will be making her UFC debut earlier on the card.
