The homecoming of Charles Oliveira is a highly successful one, as he showed off his grappling en route to scoring a victory over Mateusz Gamrot in the main event of UFC Rio.
Oliveira landed a solid one-two to start, and Gamrot responded with a takedown. Oliveira's submission game then came into play, threatening an Omoplata and an armbar before an escape by Gamrot. Oliveira then got to Gamrot's back on a scramble threatening chokes until the end of the round.
Oliveira and Gamrot then did plenty of exchanging in the second round, with Oliveira trying to back Gamrot up with pressure. A couple of minutes into the second round, Oliveira shot in and lifted Gamrot before getting the fight back on the ground. There, Oliveira locked up a rear-naked choke and submitted Gamrot.
Following the match, after causing an absolute frenzy in Rio, Oliveira called out Max Holloway for a rematch from their 2015 encounter that Holloway won -- this time with the BMF title on the line.
Charles Oliveira Submits Mateusz Gamrot In UFC Rio Main Event
This was Oliveira's first fight since being knocked out by Ilia Topuria in their UFC 317 lightweight title fight. He has consistently traded wins and losses since dropping the lightweight title in 2022.
Gamrot, who took this fight on short notice, is 4-2 in his last six. He came into this fight off a win over L'udovit Klein at UFC Vegas 107 in May.