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The Illumination of Charles 'Do Bronx' Oliveira: From Quitter to Champion
- jacobraw123
- Mar 26, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 28, 2025
One of the most beloved individuals in UFC history, Charles 'Do Bronx' Oliveira was once branded as a quitter who always looked for a way out in fights, to having an almost mythical transition into an inspirational icon.
Charles 'The Quitter' Oliveira
In the early years of Oliveira's UFC career, he was perceived by many as someone who lacked any mental toughness.
With an early career record of 7-7, there was clearly talent there, but when the going got tough, Oliveira crumbled, with most of the seven losses coming by knockout or submission.
Some of the more notable losses were the likes of his loss to Cub Swanson, where Oliveira was hit with a right hand, which he took on the chin, bizarrely dropping to the mat seconds later, cowering and ultimately losing the fight.
Another came against Max Holloway in 2015, which went down as a loss via a neck/shoulder injury.
The alleged injury came after a grappling exchange as Oliveira got up from the mat only to start holding his shoulder, looking away from his opponent whilst eating body strikes before Herb Dean stepped in.
His loss to Paul Felder in 2017 was another one of the strangest conclusions to an MMA fight in history, as Oliveira seemingly tapped to strikes from Felder.
Even the referee was so confused when Oliveira tapped that he didn't stop the fight and it lasted a few seconds longer before Oliveira covered up, not fighting back and the referee stepped in.
However, this was the penultimate moment of Oliveira's surrendering.
After his loss to Felder, Charles was reborn.
The turning point
The mental shift on Oliveira's warpath to gold came when he dyed his hair blonde.
His new look was symbolic of his new mindset and surge of confidence.
An external manifestation of the internal changes that silenced all doubters.
At one point, even his whole team dyed their hair blonde and it then became a pre-fight ritual.
The new eye-catching look was partnered with a new Oliveira inside the cage, he became more composed and displayed better fight IQ.
Most importantly, he showcased resilience and the ability to bounce back even when he was hurt.
Oliveira's significant strikes landed per minute average, was dramatically increased from 3.2 to 4.6 between 2015-2021, also having a takedown defence of 60% post-2017.
Oliveira went on a nine-fight winning streak after his identity change and was merciless inside the octagon, racking up 5 submission victories, two KOs, and two decision wins, including one against former interim-lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.
The champion has a name
Oliveira worked his way to a title shot in 2021 from being on the cusp of being cut from the UFC.
He was set to meet Michael Chandler for the vacant lightweight title and came into the fight as the underdog, with many still looking over him.
The way the fight panned out epitomizes the transition Oliveira made.
In the first round, Oliveira got knocked down and weathered the storm from Chandler, surviving some massive shots.
He came out aggressively at the start of the second round, knocking Chandler down with a left hook and getting the stoppage to be crowned the undisputed king of the lightweights.
Charles didn't stop there and won his next two fights by submission, taking him to the accolade of achieving the most submission victories in UFC history.
Oliveira has already pre booked his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame, and when his career is over, he and his story will be idolized forever.
Charles has since lost his belt to the unstoppable Islam Makhachev, who is on his way to cementing himself as the greatest lightweight in UFC history.
However, Charles has built a couple of wins back up since his loss and is targeting a rematch later this year to get his belt back...
'The champion has a name.'
The photo above emphasizes the story of Oliveira and how, in fact, he never quit.
A young boy who came from nothing, biking through the favelas to reach his training, with only an umbrella to keep him dry in the rain as he couldn’t afford a proper raincoat.
To winning everything.
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