Charles Oliveira Parades UFC Title Around Sao Paulo In Hometown Return, Massive Mural Painted
Recently minted UFC lightweight champion, Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira has returned home to his native Sao Paulo to a hero’s welcome following his title coronation at UFC 262 on Saturday night in Houston, Texas.
Oliveira, who headlined the Toyota Centre event, matched with former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, the #4 ranked lightweight, Michael Chandler extended his already division-best winning spree to nine fights — scoring the lightweight crown with a second round knockout win over the Missouri native.
Sitting atop the promotion’s list as the most prolific finisher in history with seventeen stoppage victories, Oliveira rallied from some certain adversity in the opening frame against Chandler, surviving a first round knockdown.
Starting promisingly and engaging Chandler with his pressing Muay Thai approach, Oliveira landed some notable calf kicks early, before finding himself on the receiving end of a counter left hand from Chandler, forcing him to shoot for a double-leg takedown.
Surviving a brief guillotine attempt from the Sanford MMA standout, Oliveira swiftly took Chandler’s back as the latter attempted to return to his feet — scoring a deep body triangle as Chandler slammed himself on his back.
Winding back up on the feet vertical, Oliveira was pushed back to the fence before Chandler landed a clipping right hook, sending the Brazilian to his knees and then his back as he looked to weather the striking storm.
Seeing a second round, Oliveira dropped Chandler within the first ten seconds of the second round, before swarming at the fence and finishing Chandler with a series of ground strikes.
Flying back to Guaruja in his native Sao Paulo, a fire truck ride awaited Oliveira, as well as a sizeable mural dedicated to him, plastered on a wall by artist, Wilis Cavalcante.
“I’ve always wanted to paint something about Charles (Oliveira) and didn’t even think about the fight (with Chandler) that was coming up,” Cavalcante told MMA Fighting. “He’s (Oliveira) awesome. I found that gigantic wall and said, ‘this is it’. And it turned out that it was right around his title fight.“
“I woke up Sunday without knowing the result of the fight,” Cavalcante explained. “I got a lot of texts saying he won and it was so much celebration. I watched some highlights of the fight and went back to the wall to finish the mural. It was amazing.” (H/T MMA Fighting)
