Charles Oliveira

ANALYSIS
The lightweight division is one of the most competitive ones in the sport, but Oliveira remains an elite-level talent, though he'll probably have his hands full with Topuria. That said, Oliveira owns an impressive 13-2 record over his last 15 fights, and he's coming off an impressive win over Michael Chandler on Nov. 16 last year in the last time he stepped into the octagon.

ANALYSIS
It was another excellent effort from Oliveira against another elite opponent. Fighting Chandler for the first time since May 2021, Charles dominated for four rounds, pitching a shutout on the scorecards. He landed the more damaging blows on the feet and constantly got to his trademark grappling game. All told, Oliveira landed 5-of-12 takedown attempts, a new career-best mark. He closed with 14:52 worth of control time. Yet, it all nearly came crashing down in Round 5 when one huge Chandler blow resulted in Oliveira finding himself in a vulnerable position on the mat. Mike fired off everything he had left, but Charles managed to survive and eventually turn the tables, riding his way to the final bell. It was an epic encounter on multiple fronts that would go on to earn both men $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses. Oliveira turned 35 years of age in October, but has shown zero signs of slowing down. He's still firmly in the title conversation in the loaded lightweight division.

ANALYSIS
Oliveira will return to the octagon for the first time since the loss against Arman Tsarukyan in April this year, and this bout against Chandler, who was waiting to fight Conor McGregor, will be a five-round co-main event of the UFC 309 slate. It's worth noting that Oliveira remains a top contender in the lightweight division, as he's gone 12-2 over his last 14 fights while taking on some of the best in the world in that stretch.

ANALYSIS
It was a classic Oliveira performance in the sense that there was some bad and plenty of good. Unlike most efforts from Charles in recent memory, he came up short. Oliveira was responsible for the two biggest offensive moments of the entire fight. He nearly choked Tsarukyan out with a guillotine choke early on and nearly finished him again in the closing seconds, only to run out of time. In between, Charles struggled so much with the grappling game of Arman that it ended up costing him the fight. Oliveira is now 34 years of age. He's not quite as sharp as he once was, but he's still going toe-to-toe with the best the division has to offer and showing well in the process. The Brazilian is 12-2 in his past 14 fights and has been fighting the best in the world for that entire stretch. Oliveira's future is in the UFC Hall of Fame, but he's clearly not done yet.

ANALYSIS
The UFC originally wanted Oliveira to square off in a rematch with champion Islam Makhachev, but the latter is apparently still recovering from an injury, and Oliveira wanted to stay active. He'll now get a tough test against a surging Tsarukyan, a far younger fighter who has won eight of his last nine fights, most recently dismantling Beneil Dariush in the first round in December. Oliveira will bring height and reach advantages to the cage, and will be a far greater submission threat. That may make Tsarukyan hesitant to use his wrestling, which is arguably his biggest strength.