The Lightweight Division (155 lbs) has been the most exciting division to watch within the UFC for nearly a decade. The sport’s biggest names have dominated at 155 lbs including Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and even a throw back name such as BJ Penn. However, since Khabib’s retirement the king of the lightweights has been quite murky.
New top stars have sat around the number 1 spot including Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and even Bellator great Micheal Chandler have been clamoring to have Dana wrap the belt around them. However, the first man to get “Undisputed” rights to the crown was someone known as “journeyman” for a long period of time, and that is Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira. Oliveira currently holds a professional MMA record of 33-8-0. He also holds the UFC record for most submission victories with 21 across his career. The reason Charles was almost deemed the “gatekeeper” of the division was because he was only know for being able to suddenly grab a limb or the neck and submit someone without really have the striking element that is crucial in the fight game.
December 2017 would be when Charles would start changing the community’s minds as his last loss occurred then to former fighter and current commentator Paul Felder. Charles would not fight until June 2018 when he defeated Clay Guida by a first round submission. This was the first of an 11 fight win streak he is currently on and in that time frame only one has come by decision and that was the victory over Tony Ferguson on December 12th, 2020. Oliveira would get the Undisputed title attached to his name on May 15th, 2021 when he TKO’d Michael Chandler in the second round. He’d retain approximately 6 months later when he submitted Dustin Poirier in the 3rd round. There will always be some critics not matter who is at the top but it seemed after Poirier, Charles had proven he deserved to be considered elite.
In his next defense the negativity would come to the forefront again as during fight week on Friday’s official weigh-in Oliveira, he would miss the required 155 pound limit for title fights. On his first attempt he stood on the scale at 156 pounds, and so in order to give him another chance in order to not lose his money the Arizona State Athletic Commission allotted the champion an extra hour to try and make the limit. However, on his second attempt he was still over the limit at 155.5 lbs. In a normal non-title fight/non main event this would be alright but title bouts have stricter requirements. The MMA community was quick to call out Oliveira for his miss as it was not the first time in his career that a weight issue has occurred. The UFC stripped Charles of his undisputed status but he was however still able to win after he beat Justin Gaethje by a first round submission.
Since this fight, the Lightweight division has once again been left without an undisputed Lightweight Champion. October 24th however there is a new challenger stepping into the Octagon in Islam Makhachev. The protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov is currently riding a 10 fight win streak after losing the only fight of his career in his second UFC bout. During this run Islam has compiled 6 finishes with a mix of submissions and KO/TKO’s. Islam has had comparisons to Khabib obviously as his protege but he also uses his dominant wrestling that was achieved through training in combat Sambo.
Makhachev may not be the most “fan-friendly” fighter but his domination in the Octagon has been very apparent especially in his most recent fight with the first round TKO of Bobby Green, Critics have stated that Makhachev has had the resume of opponents to fight for a title but his continued success and domination is hard to argue against that he will not be able to hang with the elite of 155. This will be a huge test for Oliveira and he needs to rely on the striking that he has put together in order keep Islam from out wrestling and controlling him for 25 straight minutes.
The key for Makhachev in this fight is definitely maintaining top position and in the grappling exchanges which there will be plenty of, he needs to defend his neck. Oliveira has one of the slickest transitions to the rear naked choke in MMA and Islam could be looking at the light in an instant if his guard is not always on high alert. This fight really does have implications for both fighters in the fact that if Oliveira loses the critics will be swift in saying he never deserved to be with the elite, but the same will be said for Makhachev.
October 22nd will tell a lot about the future of the Lightweight division and is a entertaining matchup of Jui-Jitsu vs Sambo.