By The Numbers: Charles Oliveira

Brian KnappMay 26, 2022

Charles Oliveira has put himself on the shortlist of greatest lightweights of all-time.

The reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder finds himself in the midst of a career-defining tear that has seen him rise from failed prospect to divisional kingpin. Oliveira has rattled off 11 straight wins, the past four of them coming at the expense of top-shelf peers. He last appeared at UFC 274, where he dispatched onetime World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their May 7 encounter and strengthened his hold on the 155-pound throne.

As Oliveira awaits word on his next assignment, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:

32: Years of age for Oliveira, who was born on Oct. 17, 1989 in Guaruja, Brazil.

21: Oliveira victories by submission, accounting for 64% of his career total (33). His methods of choice: nine rear-naked chokes, five guillotine chokes, three anaconda chokes, two triangle chokes, one armbar and one calf slicer. Oliveira holds nine other victories by knockout or technical knockout and three more by decision.

13: Finishes for Oliveira as a UFC lightweight, tying him with Joe Lauzon for second on the promotion’s all-time list at 155 pounds. Only Jim Miller (14) has more. Oliveira also ranks first in submissions (10), third in submission attempts (24), fourth in shortest average fight time (6:00) and fourth in submission average per 15 minutes (3.33).

41: Seconds needed for Oliveira to submit Darren Elkins with an armbar at UFC Live 2 on Aug. 1, 2010. Having occurred more than a decade ago, it remains his fastest finish to date.

15: Consecutive calendar years in which Oliveira has fought at least once. In addition to his 1-0 mark in 2022, he went 6-0 in 2008, 4-0 in 2009, 4-1 in 2010, 0-1 with one no contest in 2011, 2-1 in 2012, 0-1 in 2013, 3-0 in 2014, 2-1 in 2015, 0-2 in 2016, 1-1 in 2017, 3-0 in 2018, 3-0 in 2019, 2-0 in 2020 and 2-0 in 2021.

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73: Significant strikes landed by Oliveira during his third-round submission of Dustin Poirier in the UFC 269 main event some six months ago. It established a new personal benchmark for the Brazilian. His previous high (64) had been set against Nik Lentz at UFC Fight Night 67 in May 2015.

9: Promotions for which Oliveira has plied his MMA trade. He has gone 21-8 with one no contest in the UFC, 3-0 in Predador Fight Championship, 2-0 in Korea Fight, 2-0 in Warriors Challenge, 1-0 in Kawai Arena, 1-0 in Jungle Fight, 1-0 in Ring of Combat, 1-0 in First Class Fight and 1-0 in Eagle Fighting Championship.

1,636: Days since Oliveira tasted defeat. He last lost on Dec. 2, 2017, when he succumbed to a volley of elbows from Paul Felder in the second round of their UFC 218 pairing.

4: Oliveira losses by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 50% of his career total (eight). Felder, Max Holloway, Cub Swanson and Donald Cerrone were the perpetrators. Oliveira has been saddled with three other losses by submission and one more by decision.

.704: Cumulative winning percentage between the eight men—Felder, Holloway, Swanson, Cerrone, Miller, Ricardo Lamas, Anthony Pettis and Frankie Edgar—who have beaten Oliveira. They sport a combined record of 207-86-1.