In the co-main event of UFC 309, Charles Oliveira put on a masterful performance as he out-struck and out-worked the insanely tough Michael Chandler en route to an impressive unanimous decision victory.
Yet the fight wasn’t without its controversial moments, with UFC fans around the world lamenting both Michael Chandler and referee Keith Peterson for a series of illegal strikes that almost ended the contest in the fifth.
Charles Oliveira vents his frustration at Michael Chandler over illegal strikes
Charles Oliveira put on a stunning performance last night at UFC 309; out-landing Chandler 88-84 on significant strikes, securing five slick takedowns, and scoring almost 15 full minutes of control time.
All three of the judges had the Brazilian superstar ahead on the scorecards (40-36, 40-36 and 40-35) heading into the fifth and final round, but this was where things got controversial.
After stumbling his way into the top position, Chandler pinned ‘do Bronx’ to the floor and as the crowd erupted, ‘Iron’ landed a series of powerful elbows and hammer fists to the back of his head.
At the post-fight press conference, Oliveira was keen not to kick Chandler while he was down, but still took aim at both ‘Iron’ and their UFC 309 referee for not getting involved when the sixth, seventh, or eighteenth illegal strike landed.
“You know, I’m not here to criticize but I want to tell you something, there were a lot of blows to the back of the head, a lot of fence grabbing, there was also some eye-pokes and I was telling him [the referee] what was going on.
“I kept calling for his attention and nothing would happen. I’d hoped that he would intervene, but nothing happened, so I’m not here to criticize.”
Speaking to Full Send MMA after the events conclusion, Oliveira doubled down on his stance that the illegal shots shouldn’t be held over Michael Chandler, who already had somewhat of a reputation for bending the rules with eye-pokes, fence grabs and fish-hooking.
“A great name, a great champion, one of the toughest guys I’ve ever fought in here, so he deserves all the respect in the world… [He hit me with] a lot of shots to the back of the head, [there were] some eye-pokes in there but you know what, that’s part of it and I’m not going to criticize it.”
UFC fighters and fans react to the fifth round of Oliveira vs Chandler 2
Considering that Oliveira is arguably the single most popular lightweight in the world, it’s no surprise that social media was awash with comments criticizing both the American and referee Peterson for those illegal shots.
Oliveira himself has since shared this message to his X page: “I’m back. And I apologize for your heart rate up in round 5 (LOL) But Chandler is tough and hits hard. All respect. God bless us.”
With the victory at UFC 309, ‘do Bronx’ improves his professional record to 35-10 and will likely be the next title challenger after Arman Tsarukyan and Islam Makhachev rematch in early 2025.