Charles Oliveira definitely didn’t get the result he wanted.
At UFC 317 with the vacant lightweight title up for grabs, Oliveira suffered a shocking first-round knockout loss after Ilia Topuria blasted him with a devastating right hook with a left hand behind it that sent the Brazilian crashing to the canvas in violent fashion.
It was the first time Oliveira had been finished by knockout in nearly eight years after Paul Felder finished him with series of elbows back in 2017. Following the event, Oliveira released a brief statement on social media addressing his loss to Topuria.
“It wasn’t how we wanted it but I’m fine,” Oliveira said on Instagram. “I just want to thank everyone for the affection and the wonderful energy. God bless you all.”
While the fight didn’t even make it to the three minute mark, Oliveira came out guns blazing and tested Topuria right away. He eventually got the fight down the ground but it was momentary success as Oliveira tried to latch onto a submission but Topuria was too slick to get caught with anything.
Once the fight was back on the feet, Topuria’s striking and power was just too much for the Brazilian.
A lead jab kept paying dividends for Topuria but more importantly, once he figured out Oliveira’s timing and range as the taller fighter, he was just biding his time to unleash the fight finishing strikes.
That came during another blistering exchange when Topuria uncorked a hellacious right hook that twisted Oliveira’s head around and he went unconscious almost immediately. Before Oliveira could even fall to the canvas, Topuria unleashed a left hand that also clipped the former champion for good measure.
Oliveira was out before he hit the floor and referee Marc Goddard immediately rushed forward to stop the fight with the end coming at 2:27 in the opening round.
While certainly not the result he wanted, Oliveira remains a stalwart near the top of the lightweight rankings and he’ll likely still have a major fight awaiting him once he’s healthy, recovered and ready to compete again.
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