UFC Fight Night 144 results: Charles Oliveira hellbows, chokes out David Teymur in two

Lightweights Charles Oliveira and David Teymur squared off tonight (Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019) at UFC Fight Night 144: “Assuncao vs. Moraes 2,” inside Northeast Olympic Training Center in Fortaleza, Brazil. If you don’t have ESPN+, you can sign up here for a seven-day free trial. It was a classic grappler vs. striker matchup, with Oliveira owning the UFC record for submission wins, and Teymur coming from a kickboxing background.

Oliveira opened with leg kick, which Teymur returned. Teymur walked forward and threw a high kick, but the referee stopped the bout immediately for a blatant double eye-poke by Teymur. Oliveira took his time recovering, and the referee eventually decided to take a point from him, a rare instance of the rules actually being enforced in MMA. Immediately afterwards, Teymur poked Oliveira in the eye again almost immediately, but the referee restarted immediately with no further penalty. Teymur ate a flying switch kick from Oliveira. He waved Teymur on. Teymur dropped Oliveira with a hard overhand to he jaw, and dove into guard. He backed away and left Oliveira up. Oliveira was moving forward, looking to walk him down into the clinch. Oliveira ducked under and got Teymur down, Teymur scrambled and managed to get away. Oliveira threw a body kick. Oliveira spun for a backfist. Teymur was circling the edge of the cage, looking for his openings. Oliveira landed a big knee, then seemed to rock Teymur. Teymur ate another huge jumping knee. Oliveira and Teymur exchanged punches. Teymur ate another straight, avoided a couple spinning kicks from Oliveira. Teymur kicked and Oliveira returned fire to close out a tumultuous first frame.

Teymur’s right eye was nearly closed to start the second frame. Teymur landed a heavy body kick. Oliveira looked for the clinch, then rocked Teymur with a gorgeous up-elbow, vintage Anderson Silva style! He hit Teymur with another uppercut, landed punches on a completely turned away Teymur as the referee shouted at them, then Teymur turned into him and Oliveira locked up an anaconda choke, dragged Teymur down and it was all over! What a great fight, and an incredible win for Charles Oliveira, who is looking a force at lightweight.

After the fight, Oliveira said in rapid-fire Portuguese that he didn’t think Teymur meant to poke him in the eyes. He said he’s not the best, he’s just number one. He said people claim he’s just a grappler, but he’s got dangerous striking too. He said he wants to fight in Miami in April.

Official result: Charles Oliveira def. David Teymur via submission (anaconda choke) at :55 of Round 2

Fight Night 144 results, including play-by-play, click here