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The UFC has seen plenty of great submission artists over its three decades, from Royce Gracie and Frank Shamrock to Demian Maia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. But one man stands above them all – Charles Oliveira.
Charles Oliveira – who has a chance to become the UFC lightweight champion at UFC 262 when he takes on Michael Chandler – has 14 submission wins, more than any other UFC fighter.
And even more impressively, Oliveira’s submissions have come in a number of different ways, with some amongst the flashiest in UFC history.
So today, we’re going to rank Charles Oliveira’s five most deadly submissions in the UFC.
#5 Charles Oliveira vs. Kevin Lee at UFC Fight Night 170 – guillotine choke
Charles Oliveira has a grand total of four wins in the UFC via guillotine choke, but the most impressive one he pulled off came against Kevin Lee at UFC Fight Night 170.
The fight was a back-and-forth affair that saw Oliveira throw a crazy amount of submissions at Lee in the first round, only for the Motown Phenom to survive and win the second round with his strong wrestling game.
In the third round, though, after a brief striking exchange, Lee attempted to take Oliveira down again. This time, Do Bronx countered by locking up a remarkably tight guillotine choke, and within seconds, Lee was forced to tap out.
However, the choke was so effective that Lee appeared to have passed out moments after he tapped, resulting in him attempting another takedown after the fight was over.
And post-fight, Lee was so out of it that he couldn’t even remember submitting.
This was a beautiful submission – Oliveira’s 14th tap-out win in the UFC – and it came over one of his toughest opponents, too.
#4 Charles Oliveira vs. Will Brooks at UFC 210 – rear-naked choke
The rear-naked choke is perhaps the most common submission in UFC history, with even fighters not really known for their grappling skills tending to use it.
Therefore, it’s hardly a surprise that Charles Oliveira has a number of rear-naked chokes to his name, totaling up to four in the UFC.
Probably Do Bronx’s best rear-naked choke came against former Bellator lightweight kingpin Will Brooks at UFC 210.
Oliveira entered the fight as a sizeable underdog against Brooks, who’d notched up wins over Michael Chandler, Marcin Held and Ross Pearson.
However, the fight didn’t go the way of Ill Will and instead ended in one-sided fashion for Oliveira.
Despite Brooks supposedly being the superior wrestler, Oliveira took him down twice early on in the fight. And as Ill Will attempted a scramble, Oliveira quickly snaked his way onto his back.
Seconds later, Do Bronx slapped on a nasty rear-naked choke, and despite Brooks being in a standing position, he was quickly forced to tap out.
The finish was reminiscent of one earlier in Oliveira’s UFC career against Efrain Escudero. But given the reputation Brooks was bringing into the octagon, this one was even more impressive.
#3 Charles Oliveira vs. Darren Elkins at UFC on Versus 2 – armbar
Given that he’s only 31 years old today, it’s hard to believe that Charles Oliveira debuted in the UFC way back in August 2010, when he was just 20.
But while it took Do Bronx a long time to fully live up to his potential inside the octagon, even his debut showed that he was a hugely talented fighter with some incredible ability.
Faced with Darren Elkins, Oliveira looked confident despite being slammed to the ground early on.
Within seconds of the fight hitting the ground, he slapped a triangle choke onto the Damage. Before Elkins could react, Oliveira tightened it up and hooked his opponent’s leg to prevent an escape.
Elkins ended up falling onto his side, and from there, Oliveira switched the triangle to a straight armbar to force his opponent to swiftly tap out.
This beautiful submission win not only moved Oliveira to 13-0 in his MMA career, but it showed the rest of the UFC that he was a serious grappler with the ability to tap out anyone he might come up against in the octagon.
#2 Charles Oliveira vs. David Teymur at UFC Fight Night 144 – anaconda choke
Widely popularized by the great Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in his PRIDE days, the anaconda choke – essentially a cousin of sorts to the guillotine choke – remains relatively rare in the UFC.
That’s why it’s so impressive that Charles Oliveira has used the move to tap out three different opponents during his career with the promotion.
But while his anaconda choke wins over Jonathan Brookins and Hatsu Hioki were both impressive, it’s hard to deny that his best use of the hold came against David Teymur in early 2019.
Oliveira’s fight with the Swedish kickboxer was a genuine war, with both men throwing bombs at one another. Do Bronx also took a couple of bad eye pokes that made things even trickier for him.
But in the second round, when Oliveira managed to stun Teymur with punches, the former sensed an opportunity and took it.
Snatching Teymur’s neck up from a standing position, Do Bronx then snapped him down and directly rolled into an anaconda choke, forcing Teymur to tap out quickly.
The submission was a rare moment of beauty in what was a generally ugly fight and stands as Do Bronx’s second-best tap-out win in the UFC.
#1 Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely at UFC on Fox 2 – calf slicer
The UFC has seen a number of rare submission holds used to tap fighters out over the years. In 2012, Charles Oliveira used one of the very rarest to submit Eric Wisely in his debut at 145lbs.
The hold in question? A modified calf slicer - an incredibly brutal submission that can do all sorts of damage to a fighter’s leg but is so low-percentage that it’s rare to see a grappler even attempt it.
But Do Bronx pulled it off beautifully here, leaving Wisely in agony despite him tapping out relatively quickly.
The move initially started when Oliveira went for a heel hook that Wisely did well to roll out of.
However, he was unable to completely free his leg, and Oliveira managed to wrap his own legs around the limb before pulling him back with a rear waistlock.
Wisely even attempted a desperate fence grab to try to escape, but it was all for naught. With pain etched across his face, he tapped out in sheer agony – giving Oliveira one of the most unique submissions in UFC history.
Sure, Wisely stands as one of Do Bronx’s least heralded opponents – he only had two fights in the UFC. But for its unique nature, this remains Charles Oliveira’s best submission in the UFC.
