Alex Oliveira used his size advantage to manhandle Will Brooks at UFC Fight Night 96 on Saturday night in Portland, Ore., securing a TKO stoppage over the former Bellator lightweight champion.
There was no love lost between Brooks and Oliveira coming into the fight, especially after Oliveira blew the weigh-in. He stepped on the scale 5.5 pounds over the 156-pound limit for a lightweight non-title fight. Brooks, however, agreed to take the fight at a catchweight and received 20 percent of Oliveira’s show money.
It was quickly obvious that the extra weight was a factor in the fight, as Oliveira was visibly much bigger than Brooks. He immediately began to use his size to his advantage. He stuffed a Brooks takedown attempt and pressed him up against the fence, firing knees to his thighs and body.
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It wasn’t obvious during the round, but after the first round was over, Brooks mentioned to his corner that he felt a rib pop, likely from one of the knees from Oliveira.
Despite his injured ribs, Brooks managed his best moments of the fight in the second round. He quickly took Oliveira to the canvas, controlling the first couple minutes of the frame. Oliveira returned to his feet, but had Brooks clamped to his back, nearly sinking a rear-naked choke.
Oliveira, however, defended and returned to his strategy of putting Brooks up against the cage, wearing him down, and driving knees into his thighs and body.
By the final frame, Brooks was in obvious pain, grimacing at nearly every turn. He landed a few low leg kicks to start the round, but Oliveira quickly put him back on the fence. Brooks tried to clinch and take Oliveira down, but as they hit the canvas, Oliveira took control, landing on top in half mount.
Brooks got the fight briefly back to the feet, but that didn’t last long. They hit the canvas again. This time Oliveira took full advantage of the situation, unloading on Brooks and finishing him with strikes.
After the referee stopped the fight, Oliveira got up and threw a “crotch chop” gesture at Brooks, who didn’t take kindly to it at all. He threw his mouth guard at the Brazilian, who had to be held back by his manager, Alex Davis.
“He’s a ranked fighter. It was a great victory for me,” Oliveira said amidst a chorus of boos after the fight, before adding, “I’m sorry, but he insulted me yesterday.” He was referring to Brooks’ refusal to face him at the weigh-in ceremony.
Following the victory over Brooks, Oliveira also announced that we would return to welterweight after his bungled weigh-in.