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Although Charles Oliveira has been stripped of the UFC lightweight title, the former champion will still be fighting in the main event this weekend. The Brazilian originally tipped the scale a pound too heavy and, after an allotted hour to lose the weight, he was still a half-pound over the 155lb championship limit.
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Several fighters on the card have made some noise regarding the scale used backstage possibly being off, while others have speculated that electronic scales should be used moving forward as they're more accurate. Regardless, Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje will still headline UFC 274.
A victory would place 'Do Bronx' as the No.1 contender and he'll then face the next in line. However, he's got a tall mountain to climb before he thinks any more about this. 'The Highlight' is as hungry as ever coming into his second attempt at the undisputed lightweight title. The Brazilian will need to be the best version of himself in order to have his hand raised this weekend.
Here are five keys to victory for Charles Oliveira to beat Justin Gaethje.
#5. Charles Oliveira must avoid a brawl
The strides that Charles Oliveira has made in his striking is rather impressive. He entered the UFC as a fighter with a solid submission game, but he's now an enigma of a matchup for anyone in the division no matter where the fight takes place.
Though his stand-up game is great overall, he'll need to keep it as clean as possible. The more technical, the better. Gaethje thrives in chaos, and that's the style of fight that he'll be looking to have at UFC 274.
For as long as this fight is a standing affair, the Brazilian will need to be diligent in not entertaining a slugfest. He's a heavy hitter in his own right, but he'll just be giving Gaethje more of an opportunity to land a concluding shot if he allows himself to fight sloppy.
#4. Utilize his reach advantage
Charles Oliveira will be sporting a four-inch reach advantage as he looks to solidify himself as one of the best lightweights of all time. This will come in handy when combating the style that Gaethje brings.
The Brazilian would be wise to keep his opponent at the end of his strikes. Gathje can hit really hard; avoiding the power in his hands is obviously ideal for Oliviera. Beyond this, long and straight shots will keep his opponent hesitant to lunge in to land his own strikes.
An active jab along with prodding knees and teeps will utilize every bit of his four-inch reach advantage. Charles Oliveira always fights long, so this is nothing new to his style. It's just much more important that he stays true to this style of fighting, given how hard the opposition hits.
#3. He needs to put the pressure on Justin Gaethje
If there's anything to take away from Khabib Nurmagomedov's performance against Justin Gaethje, it's that 'The Highlight' was not a fan of the pressure coming his way.
Not only will the pressure amplify Oliveira's offense, but it will exacerbate the power of an already retreating fighter. Gaethje's patented low kicks will have a lesser effect and the counter shots will also lose some steam as they are fired while circling away.
Gaethje can shut an opponent's lights out no matter which direction he's moving, but it'll be much harder as he's trying to get away from his Brazilian counterpart. Furthermore, Gaethje's gas tank isn't quite the same when he's pressured, which is to be expected. Constantly defending and moving away will suck the energy out of even the best of athletes. It's very important for Oliveira to take the center of the octagon at the beginning of every round and control where the fight takes place.
#2. Utilize the cage
A tool that'll go hand-in-hand with Oliveira's pressure is the octagon's fence. The octagon cage is utilized time and time again by grapplers who want a better chance of taking the fight to the ground.
Charles Oliveira would be ecstatic to turn this fight into a grappling match. He's scored the most submissions in UFC history and would like to set that record pretty high for the next person who tries to beat it. Justin Gaethje has an excellent wrestling pedigree; he's defended 73% of takedowns and is very capable of scoring takedowns of his own. He just elects not to.
Charles Oliveira has shown time and time again that once he's got a hold of his opponent, they're in trouble. Should Gaethje find his back against the fence and 'Do Bronx' smothers him, the submission could only be moments away.
#1. Initiate grappling scenarios
There's nothing easy about fighting Justin Gaethje. He's the most violent fighter that the UFC has seen and always puts on a show. But if there was a path of least resistance for Charles Oliveira, it would be to grapple with the Arizonan.
Charles Oliveira's roots are in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He's arguably the most dynamic grappler in the UFC currently. He's won 20 of his 32 wins by way of submission. Additionally, in Gaethje's most recent loss, he almost looked confused while grappling with 'The Eagle'.
Again, 'The Highlight' is not at all an easy fight. The most obvious discrepancy between the two is in the grappling department. Oliveira's best chance at defeating Justin Gaehje is to find a way to get the fight to the mat and let his submission prowess work its magic.
