Tony Ferguson survived a brutal armbar attempt in round one of his co-main event fight against Charles Oliveira at UFC 256, but his best efforts couldn’t defeat Oliveira’s impressive grappling.
The fight quickly became a battle of the fists as Oliveira worked to control the center of the octagon. A kick from Oliveira staggered Ferguson, and he soon picked Ferguson up and took him to the ground. Ferguson worked his way to butterfly guard, and Oliveira stayed heavy on top and transitioned to mount, where he stayed for most of the round. In the last few seconds of the round, Oliveira transitioned to an armbar and extended the arm at a brutal angle, hyperextending it at the very least, but Oliveira refused to tap, so the fight went to round two.
OMG! HOW DIDN’T TONY TAP!? #UFC256 pic.twitter.com/o6lonK9Q1R
— UFC (@ufc) December 13, 2020
Ferguson was noticeably cautious of his left arm in round two, and Oliveira took him to the ground. The fight was paused due to blood from a cut from Oliveira, and when it resumed, Oliveira continued trying to stack-pass his way through Ferguson’s guard. Oliveira stayed heavy on top and continued to punch Ferguson, who locked up a closed inverted guard around Oliveira. Oliveira finally slipped past Ferguson’s legs, but Ferguson kept him in place by locking his hands under his knee. Oliveira stayed safe from the potential submission and kept hitting Ferguson with head and body shots until the round ended.
Ferguson was cautious but active at the start of round three, and Oliveira caught a kick from him to tip him over to the ground, where Ferguson managed to slip in a partial butterfly guard. Oliveira passed to side control and then transitioned to mount. Ferguson pushed off the cage to try to roll out of the position, and Oliveira transitioned to a triangle attempt and looked like he might go for an armbar, but then had to settle for side control instead. Ferguson continued to fight off his back, using the cage to try to roll himself over and nearly succeeding in getting out of danger before Oliveira slammed him back to the mat. Both fighters tried to get a few last-second strikes before the fight ended.
Oliveira was awarded the unanimous decision, improving his record to 30-8.
