UFC 300 has had another huge bout added to it, with UFC CEO Dana White announcing Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira will face Arman Tsarukyan in a number one contender fight.
As well as the UFC 300 addition, White also revealed that Dustin Poirier will face Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299.
Do Bronx returns to the cage in a pursuit to reclaim UFC gold. Following five years with the promotion, Oliveira managed to work his way into #7 spot in the Featherweight rankings which led to a showdown with Max Holloway. His career took a bit of a turn following the loss to Holloway as after a bounce back win to Myles Jury, he picked up back to back losses against Anthony Pettis and Ricardo Lamas. Following the defeats, Oliveira moved to Lightweight and had a total career resurgence, hitting a purple patch.
An 8 fight win streak at 155lbs led to a bout against Michael Chandler at UFC 262 for the vacant Lightweight World Championship. The fight was tipped to be a classic and it certainly lived up to expectations. The fast paced first round saw momentum swing between the ever-explosive Chandler and an extremely game Oliveira throughout. Chandler almost ended the contest just over mid-way through when he dropped Oliveira but the Brazilian managed to survive the onslaught and make it out of the round.
Do Bronx’s crowning moment came just seven seconds into the second round when he landed a peach of a left hook onto the chin of Chandler and followed up with a barrage of more strikes before once again landing the left hook and the referee had seen enough.
Oliveira then went on to defend the title against Dustin Poirier before losing the belt on the scales ahead of his Justin Gaethje clash. He then once again fought for a vacant title against Islam Makhachev but came up short. In his last outing Oliveira took out Beneil Dariush at UFC 289.
Arman Tsarukyan will be looking to claim another big scalp in only his 11th bout with the UFC. The promotion initially looked to book the Makhachev vs Oliveira rematch but with Makhachev still recovering from an injury, Tsarukyan jumped at the chance to cement himself at the top of the division ahead of the champion’s return.
Tsarukyan has had a rapid rise through the UFC Lightweight division, amassing an impressive 8-2 record during his tenure. His two stoppage victories over Joaqium Silva and Beneil Dariush in 2023 led to him securing the number four spot in the rankings at the end of 2023.
There is no doubt that the Oliveira bout will be one of the toughest of Tsarukyan's career but he’s never shied away from a challenge – he even faced Islam Makhachev in his UFC debut. As white confirmed, the winner of the contest will be next in line to face Islam Makhachev once he is back from injury.
