5 biggest winners from UFC 274: Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje

#2. Michael Chandler – defeated Tony Ferguson in a UFC lightweight bout

Michael Chandler became the first man to knock Tony Ferguson unconscious after an exciting fight

The lightweight bout between Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson always felt likely to produce one of UFC 274’s most memorable moments. In the end, not only did the fight live up to the hype, but it may have produced 2022’s best knockout overall.

It was Ferguson who took the fight’s first round. He sniped at Chandler with some beautiful strikes, wobbling ‘Iron Mike’ more than once and then threatening with submissions once the former Bellator champion took him down.

However, when the second round began, it didn’t take Chandler long to turn the tables. He did so by practically shattering Ferguson’s face with one of the nastiest front kicks we’ve ever seen in the octagon. The shot knocked ‘El Cucuy’ completely unconscious for the first time in his MMA career.

Given his relatively recent losses to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, it’s unlikely that the win nets Chandler a UFC lightweight title shot. In his post-fight interview, ‘Iron Mike’ didn’t mention the title anyway.

Instead, he seemed to have another – arguably bigger – fish to fry, as he called out Conor McGregor in his trademark entertaining fashion. Whether the UFC actually puts that fight together is another thing entirely. If they do, it could turn into one of the biggest bouts in a long time.

Essentially, due to the possibility of that fight, as well as the entertaining nature of the knockout, it’s hard not to consider Chandler anything but a huge winner.

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#1. Charles Oliveira – defeated Justin Gaethje in a UFC lightweight bout

Charles Oliveira is the best lightweight on the planet, whether or not he holds the UFC title

While his weigh-in botch means that he’s no longer officially the UFC lightweight champion, it’d be hard to argue against the idea that last night’s biggest winner was Charles Oliveira. ‘Do Bronx’ basically destroyed Justin Gaethje en route to a first-round finish, cementing himself as the best 155lber on the planet.

The fight lasted just over three minutes, but it wasn’t one-sided in Oliveira’s favor by any means. ‘Do Bronx’ had to weather a genuine storm – including a nasty knockdown – but once again, he displayed some insane toughness to come back from it.

From there, he leveled Gaethje with a crushing right hand of his own and, moments later, forced him to tap out with a rear-naked choke. This gave him his 16th submission win inside the octagon as well as his 11th win in a row overall.

Who is next for Oliveira? It sounds like the UFC are unsurprisingly willing to have him fight for the title that, in reality, he’s never actually lost. It sounds like that fight could come against Islam Makhachev.

If ‘Do Bronx’ can win that one, then not only will he be cemented as the best lightweight in the world right now, he will probably become a genuine UFC legend in the process, if he isn’t there already. Title or no title, he was last night’s biggest winner.