Oliveira can barely see halfway without his glasses, yet he is the UFC champion. What is his story from poverty to title?

Charles Oliveira is now the UFC lightweight champion. He even has his first successful defense under his belt and many experts predict that he could reign his weight division for a long time. But how did he get into combat sports in the first place and what was his path to the title?

The Brazilian fighter is living proof that humility, patience and hard work bear well-deserved fruit. He’s had a rough life, his path in combat sports hasn’t been easy either, but despite all the problems he’s the UFC champion and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

Oliveira overcame obstacles in his childhood, in addition to poverty and health problems

Brazil is notorious for poverty. Many of the outstanding athletes there come from poor backgrounds, and this is no different in the case of Charles Oliveira, who was born in the city of Guarujá in the state of Sao Paulo in 1989.

With his family, Oliveira lived in a slum to support his family, helping his mother sell cheese salads since childhood. But everything bad is good for something. During this activity, he met children who were training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (hereafter BJJ).

At the age of 12, young Charles received an invitation to a local academy where he could train for free thanks to an acquaintance of his uncle. But the academy paid off. In 2003, he won the Sao Paulo State Championship and went on to collect a total of 16 medals at major BJJ events.

Everything could have been so different. At the age of 7, doctors discovered that he suffered from rheumatism and heart murmurs. He was obsessed with football, it was a big blow. The doctors said he had to stop playing sports and that he would probably spend a good part of his life in a wheelchair. But he would rather die than stop playing sports. Fortunately, neither happened.

It’s worth noting that Oliveira never forgot his hometown. On the contrary. He still lives and trains here. He even built a social project to help children in poverty.

Oliveira and his beginnings in MMA

Knowing BJJ is a great prerequisite for success in MMA. After all, fighters who are great on the ground in addition to their stance often hold championship belts across the world’s organizations. But not everyone can translate great BJJ into mixed martial arts.

But Charles Oliveira has done it. Among amateurs, he scored a beautiful 12 wins in a row by 2007, which allowed him to move into the pros. That meant fighting at local events in Brazil, easily several fights in one night.

In less than two years after moving to the pros, he managed 12 fights, winning all of them, earning him a chance to fight in the UFC, where he is still active today.

Oliveira and the thorny road to a UFC title

Charles Oliveira has been in the UFC since 2010, a solid 12 years. He’s managed to have 29 fights in it, which just goes to show that his road to the title he now holds hasn’t been an easy one.

The talented Brazilian started his career in the best organization in the world in a great way, winning his first two fights, but three fights without a win followed. Overall, Oliveira’s results have been a rollercoaster. After all, he holds a 20-8 record in the UFC so far, which just goes to show that he wasn’t always as dominant as he looks in his fights today.

But the truth is that Oliveira has been one of the most attractive fighters all along. In addition to BJJ, he’s also improved his standup a lot and hasn’t lost since 2017. Interestingly, Oliveira wanted to fight at featherweight, however the UFC kept pushing him into the lightweight division that he now rules.

The Brazilian fighter won the title in 2021, but he was a piece of luck. The UFC decided that a title fight awaited Michael Chandler, but he won his only fight in the organization. Dustin Poirier rejected him as an opponent on principle, Oliveira did not.

Oliveira earned his title shot with a streak of 8 straight wins, beating the likes of Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee. He handled Chandler in two rounds. At the end of the year, he had to defend against Dustin Poirier, who was the favourite, but even he couldn’t find a recipe for the Brazilian.

After the fight, the lightweight king revealed that he could barely see 50% of what he could with his glasses off. Still, he is dominant in his fights. It’s amazing what he can do with a handicap like that. It just begs the question of how good he would be without it.

Oliveira and the future

Charles Oliveira is still only 32 years old, few expect that he could dominate the lightweight division for a few more years. And, indeed, it could happen, even though the lightweight division is full of great fighters.

The Brazilian is expected to defend his title against Justin Gaethje in the near future, but a fight with Conor McGregor is also in the cards, which Oliveira would be happy to accept because of the money.

Can anyone stop Oliveira?

Sources: UFC, Sherdog, ESPN