UFC lightweight contender Charles Oliveira’s successful career inside the Octagon also has a touching rags-to-riches backstory. His journey, brimming with health problems in the impoverished favelas of São Paulo, Brazil, tells us that Oliveira, the fighter, was forged by life, and not just MMA gyms and the Octagon.
A former UFC lightweight champion, Oliveira will have a chance at gold once again at UFC 317 on June 28, taking on the unbeaten Ilia Topuria. A victory would make the Brazilian a double champion, while Topuria is seeking two-division champion status.
While Oliveira’s MMA journey could be defined, or redefined this weekend, back in São Paulo, his legacy is forever connected with his roots. He continues to live near his old neighborhood despite his fame and fortune. And, contributing to local charities, he remains an integral part of his community.
But it’s not just his community and his surroundings growing up that inspired Oliveira to UFC greatness. ‘Do Bronx’ was also driven by a desire to make his family proud and do right for those who have stuck by him through thick and thin. Among those is his ex-wife, Talita Roberta Pereira.
Oliveira married Pereira in February 2014. Previously, he ran a virtual apparel store with a close friend before going to work in the medical industry at Casa de Saúde Guarujá Hospital in Brazil. Like her ex-husband, Talita is also trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, she has yet to turn that passion into a profession.
The couple had dated for six years before tying the knot. This meant that Pereira had been in a relationship with Oliveira during the entirety of his MMA career. After three years of marriage, the pair welcomed a daughter, Tayla, into the world in 2017.
View this post on Instagram
The birth of his daughter arguably provided the catalyst for Oliveira’s most dominant period in the UFC. He put together an 11-match winning streak following Tayla’s birth. The ninth fight in that sequence saw Oliveira win the lightweight title.
The run lasted till late 2022, when Oliveira lost against current #1 pound-for-pound fighter Islam Makhachev in a bout for Oliveira’s previously vacated title.
Oliveira and Pereira have since then divorced and gone their separate ways. However, they remain fully devoted to co-parenting their daughter. Positively for Oliveira, he seems to have moved past the collapse of his marriage.
Who is Oliveira’s new girlfriend?
As his social media can confirm, Oliveira hasn’t just found a new romantic partner. He’s also welcomed another child into the world.
When the news of the relationship was revealed by Oliveira on social media, it divided his fans. Some were pleased to see that he’d moved on and found happiness with his new girlfriend, Vitoria Brum.
However, knowing the long-term nature of his relationship with Talita, some fans were disappointed that he hadn’t rekindled the romance that had begun when he was just a teenager.
Since going official on Instagram in late 2023, Oliveira solidified his new relationship by welcoming a baby boy, Dominic, into the world in October 2024. Having been in mixed form inside the octagon prior to that, the birth of his son has possibly signaled the beginning of an all too familiar story for Oliveira.
View this post on Instagram
Having begun his 11-match winning streak after the birth of his daughter, Oliveira celebrated the birth of his son by returning to winning ways in the UFC.
His last fight, a UFC 309 win over Michael Chandler, may have just started a new streak for the Brazilian. And with a tough fight against Topuria just days away, Oliveira needs all the luck and omen that he can get.
