Vinicius Oliveira had a goal of getting to a bantamweight title shot this year. He’s going to have to rethink that goal.
Mario Bautista (17-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) showed Oliveira (23-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) there is plenty to be said about experience at the highest level of MMA. He dominated him in a career-defining performance and poured it on late in the second for a rear-naked choke finish in the UFC Fight Night 266 headliner Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
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Frankly, the 32-year-old made it look easy thanks to his wrestling, which allowed him to sweep with ease in the second round to get on top to the crucifix position, and it was continually downhill for Oliveira from there.
“(I was) a little bit (surprised how fast he tapped), but it was locked in – he wasn’t going anywhere,” Bautista said. “I want to get back in the top five, and I think the next person – Cory Sandhagen. Give me that rematch.”
Bautista was coming off a decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov this past October. That loss snapped an eight-fight winning streak. Bautista fought Sandhagen in his promotional debut in January 2019 and was submitted with a first-round armbar. It’s the only time Bautista has been submitted in his career.
Oliveira kicked up the middle early and pushed Bautista toward the fence from the middle. Bautista fired one big kick in return, but Oliveira kept with the calf kicks as a clear early strategy. When Bautista tried to get inside, Oliveira tied him up along the fence. They separated after 45 seconds, but fell into the cage again after a wild scramble that saw Oliveira look for a single-leg takedown. But Bautista defended it, initiated a scramble of his own, then wound up on top. Oliveira worked briefly for a leg lock, but Bautista recovered to get back on top in guard.
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The second was more scrambling, and the type of bantamweight groundwork that almost certainly had future opponents paying attention. It was all Bautista in the second, and Oliveira looked wiped out after just the first five minutes.
Oliveira lost for the first time in the UFC. He had a six-fight winning streak snapped and had to tap out for the first time since he was an amateur more than a dozen years ago.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Mario Bautista dominates Vinicius Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 266
