Very few Fight Night cards have the energy this that UFC Rio had on Saturday. Headlining the card with one of most beloved fighters of his generation in front of his home crowd was always going to be a great call and something that the promotion can control. But having that fighter deliver a great performance and earn the finish to send the crowd into a frenzy is not in the promotion’s control and that’s what Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira pulled off.
Seeing another Brazilian former champion in Deiveson Figueiredo also earning a W was a nice bonus for the home crowd, too. With UFC Rio now in the books, let’s look at what’s next for Oliveira, Figueiredo and the other winners from Saturday’s event.
Charles Oliveira
Not even four months removed from his brutal KO loss to Ilia Topuria, the only reason “Do Bronxs” came back so quickly was to fight in his home country of Brazil. Often times, after such a bad loss, older fighters get hesitant to engage and march forward, but not Oliveira. He walked Mateusz Gamrot down, showed him no respect, and sliced through him on the ground. A vintage Do Bronxs performance that warmed the hearts of his fan base.
Oliveira then called out a fellow future Hall of Famer and former foe, Max “Blessed” Holloway. This battle of the fan favourites has been brewing for some time, but I don’t think the timing will ever work as perfectly as it would right now. Two legends of the sport who were bound to rematch and are a perfect fit for the BMF title. It sucks that one of them will have to lose, but at this point, this fight books itself.
Oliveira’s next fight: Max Holloway
Deiveson Figueiredo
Figueiredo, the other former champion on this card, also earned a win in the co-main event. Knowing Figgy will turn 38 in two months, was coming off consecutive losses for the first time in his career and he was facing a younger opponent who had won six straight, the odds were stacked against him. He came in as a sizeable betting underdog, but his veteran savvy allowed him to escape this fight with a split decision victory. It wasn’t his best performance nor was it his best opponent, but this is the type of win that only the true greats are able to pull off. When it seems like they’re on the way down, they remind you they can still compete with and defeat quality fighters.
While seeing him get his hand raised was nice, this fight didn’t tell me that we should throw Figgy back in title contention. I wouldn’t be opposed to have him fight upwards against names like Sean O’Malley or Song Yadong, but it appears there’s a good chance those two end up fighting each other. If Umar Nurmagomedov beats Mario Bautista in unconvincing fashion, there’s a chance he’ll have to fight again before getting another title shot, in which case Figueiredo would be a good name to throw at him. However, I think the most sensical option is probably to have him fight Aiemann Zahabi, should he beat “Chito” Vera next weekend. Zahabi would be on a seven-fight win streak, but without the kind of marquee name that would truly send him into title contention. Figueiredo also needs another win before getting throw to the wolves again. In other words, they would need each other.
Figueiredo’s next fight: Aiemann Zahabi (if victorious vs Marlon Vera)
Joel Alvarez
The 32-year-old Alvarez put on a drubbing on Vicente Luque, earning 30-26s across the board. Despite the loss, Luque put an end to Alvarez’s perfect finishing rate. Knowing Luque has talked about brain bleeds in the past, the Spaniard perhaps took it easy on the beloved veteran in the third round. Regardless, this was a mauling performance in Alvarez’s welterweight debut. Luque is clearly post-prime, but he’s still a quality name to add to Alvarez’s win streak and a fitting divisional debut. Another known veteran who seemingly has a bit more left in the tank is Neil Magny. After winning a second straight fight two weeks ago, Magny sounds like a great test to see how far Alvarez can go in his new division.
Alvarez’s next fight: Neil Magny
Mario Pinto
After showing his devastating knockout power in his promotional debut and Contender Series bout, Mario Pinto now showed he can wrestle as well. He went three for four on takedowns, got to full mount and landed ground-and-pound shots on Jhonata Diniz until the referee was forced to call it off. At 11-0 and just 27-years-old, Pinto is a breath of fresh air for this heavyweight division. Usually, I would be in favour taking our time with a prospect this young and interesting, but this shallowness of the heavyweight division makes me want to push him up a lot faster. That’s why I think a fight with Marcin Tybura makes a lot more sense than it should.
Pinto’s next fight: Marcin Tybura
Kaan Ofli
After dropping fights to Mairon Santos and Muhammad Naimov, Kaan Ofli came into this fight in hot waters, probably needing a win in order to stay in the promotion. Getting the backpack and forcing the tap out of Ricardo Ramos in the first round was just what the doctor ordered for him. There are a bunch of names at 145 lbs that you could throw at Ofli, I went with another Brazilian: Joanderson Brito.
Ofli’s next fight: Joanderson Brito
