"My mom didn't talk to us for almost a month" - Charles Oliveira revisits the time he lied to his mother about competing in an MMA tournament

Charles Oliveira currently finds himself at arguably the peak of his career and at the pinnacle of combat sports.

A former UFC lightweight champion and fighting for the title at UFC 280 against Islam Makhachev, the Brazilian is one of the best fighters in the world, winning the ESPYS award for best MMA fighter of the year.

However, it wasn't all roses for 'Do Bronx' when he started out.

On the Brazilian podcast PodPah, Charles Oliveira recounted his early days before his career kickstarted:

"I turned 18. There was an amateur MMA championship in Rio de Janeiro. So bro, we went. I didn't know how to throw a punch, bro. I came just from jiu-jitsu. Bro, the happiness of a kid from favela was going up the mountain to come to Sao Paulo. And I said to my mom, I'll fight a jiu-jitsu championship. My dad already knew it. My dad used to lend us a hand, right? He covered us."

Young Oliveira told his mom only half the truth and left to participate in Rio de Janeiro with his friends. On top of that, he was hardly familiar with any martial arts or striking besides jiu-jitsu. He went on to describe his fighting experience in his first tournament:

"Bro, the guy was just throwing hard blows and I wanted to take him down. And in the second round I submitted the guy. I got punched man and came back with a very black eye. I got home at dawn and went straight to my room. I put a steak on my face. When I woke up, everything was on the bed and she [mom] said nothing. She had already made a scene with my father and my professor [coach]. Damn, my mom didn't talk to us for almost a month, nothing."

Unfortunately, despite his achievement, the black eye he suffered did him no favors with his mom, who dealt out the silent treatment to the entire household.

Hear the complete incident from Oliveira in the video below:

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Charles Oliveira will look to regain the lightweight championship

Charles Oliveira won the vacant lightweight championship after Khabib Nurmagomedov's retirement against Michael Chandler. After successfully defending it once, his second title defense was marred by a weight miss due to which he would not retain the title despite winning the bout against Justin Gaethje.

'Do Bronx' has bided his time since then as the number one contender for the vacant lightweight championship. Earlier this month, Nurmagomedov's protege, Islam Makhachev, was confirmed as his opponent at UFC 280 in the title decider.

Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev promises to be a fight for the ages with two very complete skillsets going up against each other. The fighters are on 11 and 10-fight win streaks, respectively, and protecting that record will land them the ultimate prize in the lightweight division come October 22nd.