Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight athletes Will Brooks and Alex Oliveira collided last night (Oct. 1, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 96 inside Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
Brooks’ dominant run through Bellator finally resulted in a UFC contract a few months back, and he quickly made a successful debut opposite Ross Pearson. Opposite the Brazilian "Cowboy," Brooks was looking to keep the ball rolling en route to the top of the division.
This was supposed to be a massive opportunity for Oliveira, but he ruined that quite a bit by missing weight so drastically. Nonetheless, Oliveira walked into the cage motivated to pick up the biggest win of his career. The Brazilian looked far bigger on fight night as well.
Highlights! To watch "Cowboy" pound out "Ill" late click here!
Oliveira opened the bout with a nasty low kick before shoving his foe into the fence. For a couple minutes, Oliveira trapped his foe, landing small strikes and controlling the position.
Three times in the clinch exchanges, Brooks did an excellent job of countering his opponent’s takedown attempts, succeeding on two of the shots. He was unable to do anything with top position before Oliveira scrambled back into the clinch, but it was still a strong moment for Brooks in a highly competitive round.
Brooks wasn’t in a hurry to go back to another clinch war in the second round — particularly since he injured his rib in the first — and he set up a single leg expertly and finished the shot after a couple of transitions. Just seconds later, "Ill Will" advanced into mount.
Despite being in a terrible position, Oliveira managed to stand up and shake his opponent off. He forced another clinch war, and this time around Oliveira was able to plant his opponent on the mat with a double leg takedown.
Just as the momentum seemed to be in Oliveira’s corner, Brooks quickly stood up and reversed his opponent with a big slam. He took the back once again but failed to control the position as the round ended.
The fight was entirely up in the air heading into the final frame.
Once more, the fight moved into the clinch rather quickly, and Oliveira was able to another big clinch takedown. Brooks’ rib was clearly agonizing, as he grimaced while being forced to wrestle from the clinch.
Possibly the worst position to deal with a rib injury.
From top position, Oliveira soon overwhelmed his opponent with hard ground strikes, trapping an arm and smashing his opponent. Before long, Herb Dean was forced to call the stoppage.
Oliveira has long been a physical talent, but he was particularly monstrous in this match up. That said, it’s hard to really praise him, as he missed weight so drastically and is on his way to Welterweight.
Who knows how his size will hold up at 170 pounds?
This is a really disappointing result. Not only did Oliveira’s scale fail eliminate any chance of him picking up momentum from this victory, but he acted like a fool after the finish, taunting and jeering at the semi-conscious Brooks.
Hardly a good move considering his lack of professionalism on the scale.
Brooks had a lot of things turn against him in this match up. Firstly, he didn’t fight a Lightweight. His opponent missed weight drastically and probably didn’t deplete himself all that much, meaning he was far bigger without paying any price in terms of ability.
Even with that problem, Brooks was holding his own in the clinch and timing his takedowns far better than his inexperienced foe. However, his likely broken rib — admittedly inflicted by a legal takedown of his opponent — pushed the adversity over the top, as Brooks eventually crumbled under the combined weight of his fat opponent and brutal wound.
Since this was hardly a Lightweight fight, Brooks shouldn’t lose any ground. Nonetheless, he’ll still need to get back in the win column before facing any of the division’s elite.
Last night, Alex Oliveira overwhelmed his opponent and finished him via technical knockout. How will the Brazilian "Cowboy" do as a Welterweight?
For complete UFC Fight Night 96: "Dodson vs Lineker" results and play-by-play, click HERE!