The news has just broken that the man with the most submission victories in UFC history, Charles Oliveira, will be back on the hunt and looking to extend his record at UFC Fight Night 179 on October 3rd. Oliveira is a 3rd degree black belt under the legendary MMA veteran Jorge Patino and has so far racked up an astonishing 14 wins by submission in the UFC, 3 clear of the next-best submission artist, Demian Maia. He’s also level with Donald Cerrone for the most finishes of any description in the UFC, as both men have ended 16 fights before the final bell.
AG Fight reported that Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush will meet at the beginning of October as both men are edging ever closer to a UFC Lightweight title shot. Oliveira is in phenomenal form coming into this fight, he’s on a seven-fight winning streak with not a single fight needing the judge’s decision. During his best UFC run to date, the 31 year-old has managed to take some impressive scalps like Clay Guida, Jim Miller, and in his last fight, Kevin Lee. Dariush is in fine form himself, despite being ranked on the very edge of the top 15 at present. He’s managed to put together a five-fight win streak that includes three “Performance of the night” awards, dating back to November 2018. The only reason Dariush isn’t ranked higher, is simply the quality of his opposition during this streak. His most notable victory in this period came over Scott Holtzman in a fight that Dariush had missed weight for.
The results of this fight should have big implications for the Lightweight division as Oliveira should be able to stake a claim to a title-eliminator if he extends his impressive streak further, while Dariush has the opportunity to propel himself into the top 10 and earn a big-name matchup moving forward. Whatever happens, it’s unlikely that the judges will be needed in this matchup.