The UFC lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira is going to defend his belt against Justin Gaethje in the upcoming UFC 274 Oliveira vs. Gaethje match. It will be held on Saturday, May 07, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Footprint Center. Oliveira is coming back after a submission victory in the early rounds against Dustin Poirier a few months ago. Gaethje won against Michael Chandler by a unanimous decision a similar period ago. Oliveira has a record of no defeats and more than thirty wins. He also won against Chandler nearly a year ago. Also, Michael Chandler will go against top lightweight boxer Tony Ferguson on that night. The much-awaited match will also have another title match. Rose Namajunas will defend the strawweight championship belt against Carla Esparza. The fight card will also have a light heavyweight match between Ovince Saint Preux and Mauricio Rua. There will also be a lightweight match between Joe Lauzon and Donald Cerrone.
The Oliveira vs. Gaethje match will happen in a few days. As with any event with UFC, the promotion has loaded the fight card with familiar faces and huge names. Right at the top of the fight card are a pair of championship matches as Charles Oliveira looks to defend the UFC lightweight title belt against Justin Gaethje. The fan favorites strawweight titleholder Rose Namajunas will also put her belt against the fighter Carla Esparza. Also on the fight card for the Oliveira vs. Gaethje match are some of the best fighters in the history of the championship. The former light heavyweight title-holder Mauricio Rua will go against Ovince Saint Preux. The former interim lightweight titleholder Tony Ferguson will go against former title contender Michael Chandler. The UFC legends Joe Lauzon and Donald Cerrone will finally go against one another. It is the type of fight card that can get a lot of the fans very excited. But there is always a little more than only the matches to be thought about when scanning the entire fight card. There are a lot of interesting and deep tales that are strewn throughout the fight card.
You may be one of the fans that may have heard about this before. Charles Oliveira is going to step into the ring against a rival who has thrown some accusations that the lightweight titleholder quits when the matches get tough. Oliveira has won more than nine consecutive matches. This includes championship matches against Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler. But he cannot get away from the particular accusation thrown against him. It does not matter that the accusation is now looking more ridiculous as his career goes on. Gaethje has been quite loud in making all these claims. This is despite Oliveira being injured and dropped by both Poirier and Chandler and then giving it his all to come back and end on a high against both fighters. Oliveira has been involved in the fights in the championship nearly thirty times. He has tapped out a record number of rivals and knocked out a few others. He has also been dropped several times in his professional career. But Oliveira is one of the top lightweights of his era for dropping more people than those who have dropped him. If Oliveira defeats Gaethje, he is sure to follow through on his own promise to put the champ through a hard time.
Oliveira will have some consecutive victories over the type of tough, hard-hitting fighters who like making their rivals melt under pressure. A fan may think that so many wins would drop the accusation that Oliveira quits when it is tough. But it is not easy to shake off such a narrative once it is stuck.
It does not seem right that in the present, Mauricio Rua is not in such a desperate place as Donald Cerrone and Tony Ferguson going into a fight card that has all the fighters in it. But that is the cold hard truth. Cerrone has gone into the ring more than five consecutive times without getting a victory. Ferguson has been totally dominated by his rivals in several straight matches. He is looking at the shadow of the fighters who won nearly all of his initial matches in the championship. For Ferguson and Cerrone, there is nearly no room left if they want to stay relevant in huge matches. Ferguson has a tough task in attempting to come back against Michael Chandler. He is a fighter who is quite similar to Gaethje. The latter is the man who initiated the downward journey of Ferguson after a comprehensive beating a couple of years ago. Cerrone does not have to take an examination of the same type. He is going against Joe Lauzon, who has lost more than he has won in the past seven years and has not been involved in any fight for the past three years. A defeat to Lauzon would spell doom for the professional career of Cerrone.
It could show that he cannot compete at this level after the wear and tear of more than a decade of fighting. All the fighters reach the end of the line eventually. It is time for Cerrone and Ferguson to show that they still have the ability to compete at this level and go on for a little longer.
Like many fans, the UFC middleweight title-holder is excited about the main event that is going to happen in a few days. Israel Adesanya went to his social media channel to talk about the Oliveira vs. Gaethje match. Adesanya likes the fighting style of Justin. He liked the fight that he put up against Ferguson to get the interim title a couple of years ago. He feels that the fighter has the ability to get a big victory.
Adesanya said, "Gaethje's leg kicks are definitely a key to this fight. [In the] grappling, Gaethje can wrestle and scramble, I've seen him, but he's not going to do that. He's going to fight the way he fought Ferguson — just take your time, don't rush. Gaethje hits... everybody hits hard, but Gaethje just snaps you. I still remember the way those were sounding against [Ferguson]. It was nasty. If [Oliveira] gets hit a lot, you can't take too much of those. You have to be able to give it back and go to war. Gaethje could get slept. If he gets caught in something crazy in [Oliveira's] guard or standing up in a guillotine, he could choke Gaethje out, putting him to sleep."
|
Charles Oliveira |
Justin Gaethje |
|
|
Country |
Brazil |
USA |
|
Age |
32 years |
33 years |
|
Pro |
14 years |
10 years |
|
Height |
5′ 10″ (178 cm) |
5′ 11″ (180 cm) |
|
Reach |
74″ (188 cm) |
70″ (178 cm) |
|
Division |
lightweight |
lightweight |
|
Stance |
orthodox |
orthodox |
|
Titles |
UFC (lightweight) |
- |
|
Record |
32 - 8 - 0 |
23 - 3 - 0 |
|
KOs |
28% |
82% |
|
Inactive |
147 days |
182 days |
Main Card:
Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje- Lightweight Title bout
Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza- Women's Strawweight bout
Michael Chandler vs. Tony Ferguson- Lightweight bout
Mauricio Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux- Light heavyweight bout
Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon- Lightweight bout
Prelims:
Randy Brown vs. Khaos Williams- Welterweight bout
Macy Chiasson vs. Norma Dumont- Women's featherweight bout
Brandon Royval vs. Matt Schnell- Flyweight bout
Blagoy Ivanov vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima- Heavyweight bout
Early Prelims:
Francisco Trinaldo vs. Danny Roberts- Welterweight bout
Tracy Cortez vs. Melissa Gatto- Women's flyweight bout
Kleidson Rodrigues vs. C.J. Vergara- Flyweight bout
Ariane Carnelossi vs. Loopy Godinez- Women's strawweight bout
Journey Newson vs. Fernie Garcia- Bantamweight bout