When Charles Oliveira last fought in Brazil under the UFC banner, he did so in extremely unfortunate and eerie circumstances.
This Thursday, it was announced by the promotion that Charles Oliveira will return at UFC Rio de Janeiro on October 11, to take on fellow fan favorite Rafael Fiziev.
Oliveira’s return comes relatively quickly after suffering a brutal knockout against Ilia Topuria at UFC 317 this past June, however, ‘Do Bronx’ didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of fighting in front of his home fans.
The last time the 35-year-old fought in Brazil was back in 2020, and he did so under extremely unfortunate circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charles Oliveira’s last UFC Brasil fight was behind closed doors, making UFC history
After winning six fights in a row and showing the UFC that he had turned his career around and was a serious lightweight contender, the promotion gave him the honor of headlining an event in his home country.
Oliveira was matched up against Kevin Lee, who not long before had taken on Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title, for the chance to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The event was set to be absolutely huge, with Oliveira having grown in popularity and not being too far off a lightweight title shot himself.
However, just two days before the event was scheduled to go ahead, the UFC announced that it would have to take place behind closed doors due to the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was the first time in the promotion’s history that they hosted a behind closed doors event.
Things almost went from bad to worse for Oliveira as Lee weighed in over the lightweight limit, putting their fight even further into jeopardy. Fortunately, both fighters came to a catchweight agreement and Lee was docked 20% of his purse.
With it being an international event, UFC icon Joe Rogan wasn’t in attendance on commentary, however, he did livestream a fight companion episode, sharing his thoughts throughout the main card.
And during the main event, Rogan touched on how eerie it was to listen to a UFC event without the noise of the crowd, which at that point, was completely unnatural.
“I have to go back and watch this and listen to it (properly) with no audience, I bet it’s so weird. Jon Anik tweeted when Gilbert Burns yelled, it was very eerie how it echoed in an empty arena. That’s so strange,” Rogan continued.
‘Do Bronx’ went on to win the fight in the third round via a guillotine, extending his UFC record for the most submissions in the promotion’s history.
Charles Oliveira thanks Dana White for the opportunity to fight in Brazil again
With his chance of getting to fight in front of his home crowd having been ruined, Oliveira didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity this time around.
“Hey family, good morning, I don’t know what time you’ll be watching this video but first I want to thank God for another huge opportunity he has given me, right after that, Dana White… thank you for fulfilling my request.
“October 11, at UFC Rio, Charles Oliveira vs Rafael Fiziev, the main event of the evening… It’s been a long time since I fought in Brazil and being able to fight in Brazil again is very important to me,” Oliveira said.