Charles Oliveira defeated Michael Chandler via TKO at 00:19 of round 2
Charles Oliveira:
So much is going through my head right now, a lot of emotions. I went through so much and to be able to get here… I never faced hunger, my father never let us miss a meal, but there were a lot of things I wanted and couldn’t have. My mom and dad always believed in me and my siblings. They always told us to keep going. We went through a lot and to be able to now look back and see everything we went through, being able to be here with these guys who are monsters and doing what we have been doing, 9 wins in a row, I either get a knockout or a submission every time… It’s finally here. I only have to thank God for everything He has done in my life and I only have to be grateful.
I’m motivated by things. I want to have a different car, I want to be the champion, I want to break records… When I got into the UFC, a lot of people said I was crazy and I said I wanted to be the best in the world and I wanted to break records. Now I’m the biggest finisher, I’m the second in post-fight bonuses, I’m making history today becoming the lightweight champion. I’m the second Brazilian, I think, to get this belt, I’m making history right now. Before I left home, my daughter asked me to bring back the belt. I promised this to her and to a lot of people and I’m keeping it. I want to thank everybody who believed in me. Now I get to go back home and keep training.
It had to be hard. It couldn’t be easy. I talked a lot about the fight with Tony Ferguson. I asked for the opportunity to face a top 5 and I got it on five days’ notice. You saw what I did to him and he’s a monster, he deserves all the respect in the world. We talked this week and I have so much respect for him. Now Michael Chandler, another tough guy, so it had to be hard, it couldn’t be easy. He got me in that guillotine, it was well adjusted and I just said, “I’m going to pass out, but I’m not going to tap”. And he let go. I got his back, I wanted to hold for a little bit, he has a tough pace, he punished me a lot, but even so, I was still standing. When I sat down in between rounds, my coaches told me to breath, keep going and be calm. I came back, I knew my hand was also heavy. When it hit him, he would feel it too.
(…) I knew that the victory was ours, I was not going to give up. God won’t give you more than you can handle. I knew it would be hard. My dad says, “God will throw you into the lions’ den, have faith. You’re going to make it through”. And I made it through.
All I have to do is say thank you. I have to thank God, my family, my team, Brazil and the whole world. This whole week everyone was wishing me a good fight, congratulating me, wanting to see me… To everyone who believed in me, it’s here, we made it.
I never doubted my day would come. I thought it was already my time in the past, but it’s not in our time, it’s in God’s time. When I learned that, God showed me. I never thought about giving up, I always believed in it. I got into the UFC to be the champion and my time would eventually come. It’s here now.
Beneil Dariush defeated Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision
Beneil Dariush:
You know what was the part that I had to dig deep? Sticking to the game plan. I wanted to get wild so bad. I felt better in my speed, I felt better in my power and I was just like let’s get wild, but then I remembered I want to be a champion, I’m not trying to be a bonus fighter.
Actually it was the fans that helped. They were yelling his name (…) I was like, you know what? It’s all noise. The victory is the Lord’s, I just need to do my job. I stuck with the game plan and did what I was supposed to.
Tony deserves all of it. Look at Tony’s career. One of the best lightweights ever, he deserves every bit of that, he deserves that chant, that love. I just hope the same fans that screamed Tony so loud, you better not be fickle, you better be a Tony fan to the day he is gone. I better see that from them. I better never hear when Tony walks out a boo. For the rest of Tony’s career, I better only hear cheers, because if not, you’re fickle and you don’t deserve to be a Tony fan.
Pop! I look at him and then he is back to normal and starts kicking me. Tony is not human. I just thought to myself I’m going to squeeze this a little bit more. If he taps, he taps. If not, whatever, we’ll move on and keep doing what we’ve been doing. That’s what I did. I popped his heel and couldn’t get him, came back on top and just tried to be dominant in the positions. He was so awkward. Even against the cage. In the third round, he had me north-south and I kept trying to go to the side, but I couldn’t. He was literally holding me so tight. He had such a long, hard squeeze.
Control my emotions. I knew I couldn’t win in the stand up. I felt the timing, I touched him up a couple of times, but then I also felt I was going to get drawn into his timing, which is a wild thing, so I said, let’s just do what we’re supposed to. Find the hips, take him down.
Rogerio Bontorin defeated Matt Schnell via unanimous decision
Rogerio Bontorin:
Earlier this week I said beyond getting a win, I wanted to put on a good performance and I think I did that. That’s why I decided to only take the fight to the ground in the last round. I thought I’d keep the first two rounds standing to put on a show for everyone, and if worst comes to worst, take him down. In the end of the third, I felt I needed to go for the takedown to secure the win.
I’m really happy. It all worked out. My plan is to just take one week off, go back to training and just wait for my phone to ring.
I was sure I won the first round. The second one I wasn’t really sure. That’s why I decided to go for the takedown on the third to at least get a 2-1 in case they gave him the second.
I don’t really pick opponents. I want to face the best and whoever UFC sends my way, I’ll take it.
Two fights without a win, losing family members to Covid-19 and now going back to winning, I got really happy and emotional. I’ve been through a lot. Getting this win means a lot to me.
Katlyn Chookagian defeated Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision
Katlyn Chookagian:
I’m really happy (..) I’ve had amazing sparring rounds this camp, I sparred a lot, but I’ve been trying to be more aggressive. I think what really helped me was my teammate Sijara Eubanks, us being in camp together, we definitely leveled up the past six months. We’ve always sparred together, but for whatever reason, our sparring was like super intense and I definitely think that helped a lot.
I felt more confident going into the third because at the end of that second, once I got up and I hit her off the break, I could see right away that she wasn’t happy. She started breathing even more heavy than she was before. I could see it in her face, she is just trying to get to the end of the fight, she’s not really trying to win. I could definitely tell that’s where the tides changed and I started getting a lot of momentum.
Sometimes you do all this stuff in the gym and it’s so hard to do it on the big stage. Everything you worked on all the time to make it all work in there. I mean, I’m in a position where I’m No. 2, I beat No. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. It feels good, but I’m starting to run out of fights and I just want to stay active. I like Alexa Grasso, but I’ll fight anyone. For one, she is someone from the top 10 that I haven’t fought , but she kind of came into the division and got a lot of hype. Everyone talks about how good her boxing is and I’m sitting at home like, mhmm, no, what about me? Of course I get a little chip on my shoulder and I want to see. I pride myself in my boxing. I just think that’s a fun matchup.
2020 was an awesome year, I fought five times. I have no injuries, just a couple of bruises, but I just want to stay active, keep the momentum going, keep fighting.
It felt great. The last time I fought in front of a crowd was actually here and unfortunately I didn’t get the win so it was great to come back here to Houston and redeem myself.
Edson Barboza defeated Shane Burgos via TKO at 1:16 of round 3
Edson Barboza:
I’m really happy. Like I said before the fight, I came prepared for war. And it was a war. Every time I step in the octagon, everybody expects a war. I was ready for it. I trained really hard for this fight, my head was in the right place, I was really confident and thank god everything worked out.
145 is my division, it’s where I’m comfortable at. I said this would be one of the best performances in my career and it was, if not the best.
I don’t do anything crazy. The most important thing is my health and I don’t play with that. I only moved down because I had a team behind me and I knew I would be able to make weight and perform well, which is what’s important. I think I made that move at the right time and I’m really happy.
I think I won the first round. In the end of that round, I was able to connect some shots and he almost dropped so I think I clearly won that one. The second round was pretty even. My coaches said we could be up 2-0 or we could be tied 1-1, so I needed to go harder on that third. I trust my coaches so I pushed harder on the third round and was fortunate to be able to connect a shot and walk out with a win.
It was kind of crazy. I honestly didn’t really understand what happened at the time. After the fight was over, I was still moving forward and saw that he was dropping. I saw he couldn’t defend himself, but I didn’t understand what happened. I asked my coaches what had dropped him, because I didn’t see it. I want to rewatch the fight and see what exactly happened.
I just want to continue climbing the ranking. I beat two top 10s so I’m going up and I’m getting closer to my goal which is to be the champion.
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