Charles Oliveira made his return to the octagon at UFC 300. The Brazilian fought Arman Tsarukyan in his first fight following his KO victory against Beneil Dariush. Oliveira took on the #4 ranked lightweight in the division to prove that he is still one of the best fighters. On the flip side, for Tsarukyan, it was an opportunity to prove himself against a former champion who has beaten almost all the top contenders in the division.
The fan reception for Charles Oliveira tore the roof off the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Since the bell rang, the crowd was cheering for the Brazilian. In the first round, the challenger fell after getting hit with a kick and the fight went to the ground. Oliveira slipped him into a guillotine, but Tsarukyan showed tremendous determination to escape out of it.
Unfortunately, the first round also came with an unintentional illegal kick by ‘Do Bronxs’ while he was trying to escape full guard. The second round, however, went the other way. After some initial sparring, Arman Tsarukyan took down Oliveira and had a good hold on him for the rest of the time.
Tsarukyan cut Charles Oliveira up in the second round with huge elbows to his face. Going into the third round, even the commentators believed it could be anyone’s fight. After close to a minute of striking, Tsarukyan took the Brazilian down again. However, towards the end of the third round, Oliveira got his footing back as the Armenian fighter survived a guillotine scare after controlling the entire round. His ground and pound in the second and third rounds secured a split-decision victory for him. Meanwhile, after securing a dominant win, Arman Tsarukyan had a special call-out for a former opponent after his fight.
Arman Tsarukyan calls out Islam Makhachev at UFC 300
Tsarukyan and Islam Makhachev met once in the UFC back in April 2019. Back then, Makhachev got the better of the Armenian after going the full three rounds. However, now Tsarukyan has emerged as a dominant force in the UFC. So much so that he could not comprehend how one judge scored the fight in favor of Oliveira. He then went on to call out Makhachev, saying,
“I gave him the toughest fight and I believe in myself, next fight I’m going to win, just give me that opportunity and that’s it.”
Surely, now that Tsarukyan won, he will be the favorite for a title shot next. Islam Makhachev is himself looking for his next fight and all odds point at it being against Dustin Poirier in June. However, once the scores between Poirier and Makhachev are settled, Tsarukyan might get his chance to have a go at the lightweight gold later this year. Meanwhile, fans were at their creative best following the Oliveira-Tsarukyan bout.
Fans give dramatic reactions to Charles Oliveira losing
The Charles Oliveira fans could not contain their disappointment after the Brazilian lost the fight. One fan included a hilarious John Cena meme and said,
“Charles Oliveira fans realizing he’s washed”
One user stated Oliveira was going on a Tony Ferguson run. The post read,
“charles oliveira starting his tony ferguson run”
Another user stated that there is no chance for Charles Oliveira to fight for the title again. The comment read,
“It’s over boys we just lose the chance at one more Charles Oliveira title reign “
Other fans expressed themselves through memes that included Donald Trump in one of them.
Well, it is quite evident from the reactions that Charles Oliveira fans are not used to seeing their favorite fighter lose. It will be interesting to see how the Brazilian comes back from this loss.
