The UFC is heading to Rio on October 11th and it will be the homecoming for a former world champion. Former lightweight champion Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira (35-11) will fight in Brazil for the first time in over five years as he takes on 10th ranked lightweight contender Rafael Fiziev (13-4). The promotion announced the main event this morning.
Starting with Fiziev, this is a golden opportunity for him to jump right into title contention. Fiziev is coming off a win in his own homecoming at UFC Baku when he defeated Ignacio Bahamondes. That win snapped a three-fight losing streak. Granted, one of those losses was due to injury and two losses were close decision losses against Justin Gaethje. Prior to that, Fiziev had won six in a row.
He’ll have his hands full taking on a very motivated Charles Oliveira. Oliveira is coming off a heartbreaking knockout loss to Ilia Topuria for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317 just a little over a month ago. From 2018 through most of 2022, Do Bronx was 11-0 and became the lightweight champion with signature wins over the likes of Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier.
That said, he’s just 2-3 in his last five fights with the three losses coming to Topuria, Islam Makhachev, and a razor close decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan. He’ll look to show his home fans in Rio that he’s still one of the best lightweights in the world.
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